Lisbon, April 7, 2026 (Lusa) - Jose Luis Carneiro, the Socialist Party (PS) leader, accused the government on Tuesday of profiting from the sacrifices of people in Portugal, saying the state would collect an extra €500 million if inflation stays 1.5 percentage points above forecasts.
"By our calculations, if inflation rises [another] 1.5 points, the state will collect €500 million more by the end of the year," Carneiro told journalists during a visit to Lisbon’s Benfica Market. "It is immoral for the state to profit from our sacrifice," he said.
Prior to the visit, the party's press office distributed a document detailing that if inflation reaches 3.6%, the state will see a €500 million increase in VAT revenue.
"If this impact extends to the entire tax burden, it represents a revenue increase of €1.668 billion in a year (0.52% of GDP)," the party added.
Carneiro said he presented several measures to combat the rising cost of living to the prime minister a month ago, following the Middle East war, but the prime minister refused them. He said the socialists would insist on these measures in Friday's parliamentary debate.
He prioritised implementing zero VAT on the basic food basket and support to reduce costs for fuel, electricity, and gas. He also criticised the government's proposals to tackle rising prices.
"The measures the government has adopted are clearly insufficient, the cost of living is rising exponentially, and families are having serious problems facing this price increase," he said.
When asked about the finance minister's opposition to zero VAT, Carneiro said the minister "is wrong."
The PS calculates that the VAT exemption on food, a temporary VAT reduction on fuel and gas from 23% to 13%, an exemption from the fuel tax (ISP) on agricultural diesel, and a support package for transport companies would have a net quarterly budget impact of 0.15% of GDP.
The party said if the measures continue until the end of the year, the net impact would be 0.4% of GDP. It said the cost of these proposals "corresponds to the budget surplus not foreseen by the government in 2025."
Journalists asked him several times to comment on the election for the parliament's external bodies, but he never replied. He said his priority was the cost of living because "that is what worries people in their daily lives."
TS/LYT // ADB.
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