LISBON: Portugal’s finance minister has said that taxes should be reduced and wage cuts returned “gradually” over the next four years and not straight away in 2017 as the opposition proposes.
“When we look towards the next four years, we can see there are real conditions to improve people’s living conditions, reduce unemployment, cut taxes and return the wage cuts to the public sector”, Maria Luís Albuquerque said.
However, unlike the Socialists, who want to give back the wage cuts and tax surcharge in 2017, the minister said the PSD/CDS-PP coalition wanted to do it “gradually” over the next four years. “If we go too fast, act too early or too late, the situation will get worse and we will have to take them away again and the Portuguese don’t deserve that”, she said. Referring to the Socialists priority to create jobs, she said that the coalition “naturally” wants the same but that “it’s companies that create jobs” and “conditions have to be created” starting with a reduction in company income tax.
