Fafe, Portugal, Aug. 10, (Lusa) - Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said on Monday that Portugal, despite all the adversities, is going through a «good phase» and a period in which it is more competitive than its partners.
«We are a country that is going through a good phase; this does not mean we are disregarding people's difficulties, particularly those who need to use the SNS» [National Health Service], people with children at school who want to complete their studies, people in later life who do not want to be left alone and need support, and people who go to petrol and diesel stations to fill up and find the cost higher than it was a year ago,» he said.
He acknowledged that these are real problems, but that the Government is monitoring the situation and trying to alleviate them.
Speaking on the sidelines of the opening of the Citizen's Bureau in Fafe, in the region of Braga, the Social Democratic head of the government emphasised that Portugal is currently experiencing a period – despite all the adverse circumstances such as the series of storms, the crisis in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine – in which it is more competitive than its partners.
«And this should spur the country on to grow even further,» he said.
Portugal has achieved economic results that are «far more significant» than those of the overwhelming majority of European Union member states in terms of economic growth, increased exports, employment and incomes, he emphasised.
«And whenever a news story like this appears, it might seem as though everything is going badly, but it isn't,» Montenegro pointed out, referring to the debt figures.
In this context, the prime minister added: «The other day we learnt, for management-related reasons, that our public debt had risen, but I have said before and will say again that we will reach the end of the year and once more exceed expectations.» Montenegro questioned why there was, straight away, such a «negative» reaction to something that has been explained and which does not divert the country from its goal of becoming stronger, more dynamic and more united.
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Lusa
