António Filipe gathered this afternoon in the Príncipe Real garden in Lisbon with economists Ricardo Cabral, Ana Costa, and Paulo Coimbra, who presented him with a statement of support signed so far by 37 economists. The statement praises his “vision of the future on the concrete challenges of the Portuguese economy”.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, António Filipe expressed satisfaction with the support from these economists at a time when he believes there is “great dissatisfaction” among the Portuguese regarding the national economy’s response to the people’s problems.
“They are confronted with an economy based on low wages, enormous job insecurity, threats of worsening labor legislation, and theories that there is no alternative to the neoliberalism we have been experiencing,” he stated.
Backed by the PCP, António Filipe emphasized that his candidacy intends to “elevate the economic debate” in the presidential elections and challenge this perspective by discussing the “Portuguese economy in terms of what is necessary to address the people’s concrete problems,” particularly those facing “greater difficulties”.
When asked if he shares the optimism of the Government and the President of the Republic regarding the state of the Portuguese economy, on the day the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced a greater than expected reduction in the public debt ratio for 2024, António Filipe replied: “I do not follow the theory, which is not new, that the Portuguese economy can improve while the Portuguese people fare worse”.
“I believe the economy is only better if the Portuguese people are better off, and they are not,” he argued, highlighting an “intensification of worker exploitation”, an increase, “at times obscenely”, in large companies’ profits, and investment “far short of what is necessary” in public services.
“There may be macroeconomic indicators that evolve in a certain direction, regarding public debt, inflation values, the deficit, but if this does not translate into improved living conditions for Portuguese citizens, it ends up being a mere abstraction from which the Portuguese derive no benefit,” he asserted.
Regarding how he intends to elevate the economic debate in the presidential elections, António Filipe noted that, so far, the topic has barely been addressed by candidates, which he lamented considering the “responsibilities the President of the Republic has in the matter”.
António Filipe announced plans to organize an event in October with the signatories of the support statement to “discuss the present and future of the Portuguese economy”, within a “very complex European and global framework”.
