Castelo de Vide, Portugal, Aug. 27, 2025 (Lusa) - The minister for the economy prioritised economic growth and increasing incomes on Wednesday, expressing his conviction that the Portuguese will continue to vote for the PSD if they "feel they have more money in their pockets".

Manuel Castro Almeida was the guest speaker today at the 21st edition of the PSD Summer University, which runs until Sunday in Castelo de Vide (Portalegre), in a speech on the theme "Better Economy: more income".

"If the Portuguese realise that with this government they are getting better and better incomes, they will continue to give us their vote (...) If people feel that they have more and more available, more money in their pockets, that is the main criterion for them to continue to give us their vote," he said, saying that this real increase happened in 2024 and "will go the same way" in 2025.

The minister emphasised that, along with balanced public finances, the prime minister established "economic growth to increase the income of the Portuguese and sustain the welfare state" as the main priority of the 25th government when it took office.

"If the Portuguese want a policy of increasing incomes, they know which party can ensure that," he said.

Castro Almeida took advantage of a question from one of the students at the PSD's Summer University - an initiative to train young executives - to criticise the PS for having scuppered the government's initial plan for the income tax for young people up to the age of 35, which involved a maximum rate of 15%.

"I would say that it is your duty that no young person should be unaware that the PSD government, the AD government, wanted to put a 15% ceiling on the personal income tax rate for young people and the PS prevented this from being approved.

 It is against our will that young people are paying more than we wanted. And I confess that to this day I still don't understand what the Socialist Party's rationale is, he said, considering its position "unforgivable".

At the end of the session, when questioned by journalists about statements made by the PS secretary-general, José Luís Carneiro, who claimed that it was the Socialist government that created a first version of the youth income tax, Castro Almeida asked the Socialists for "more modesty".

"There was something called income tax jovem, an initiative of the PS, but I just want to remind you that this income tax was only for graduates. So it excluded all young people who weren't graduates; it's a bit disgusting. I don't even know how you're still talking about it. It would be better to close the subject," he said.

However, Castro Almeida expressed the government's openness to revisiting the subject if the PS is willing to "create a more favourable regime for young people, to increase young people's income, so that young people don't have to go abroad because they have little income here."

Asked if the government was considering reopening the discussion on its initial proposal for a young person's personal income tax, he replied: 'That's a matter you'll have to put to the finance minister, the opportunity and the timing of these things is up to the finance minister, not me.

For around two hours, the minister explained to the students how the government intends to bridge the income gap that still separates Portugal from the European average and what he sees as its mission.

"For a long time now, I've thought that the main characteristic of the Minister for the Economy is to have the political clout in the cabinet to condition various sectoral policies, orienting them towards the result of increasing competitiveness," he said.

Even so, he acknowledged that the position he most enjoyed holding was that of mayor: "As a secretary of state, as a member of parliament, as a minister, what's really good, he realised, is being the mayor. At least that's how it was for me. In the previous government [of Pedro Passos Coelho], I was Miguel Poiares Maduro's secretary of state and I often said to him: “if you keep doing well, you'll become mayor," he joked.

Castro Almeida argued that the main differentiating factor for companies must be innovation - and that science must also be used to “transform knowledge into invoices” - and reiterated the €300 million increase in the funds included in the Mobilising Agendas of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

In this context, he highlighted two projects included in these consortia that bring together companies and research centres: the design and production in Portugal of a 19-seater light aircraft for civilian and military use, and the construction of a satellite launcher for space in the Azores.

SMA/ADB // ADB.

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