“There are no completed revolutions. The current times keep us on alert, requiring more integration, greater coordination, more information, and even more analysis and reinforcement of trust,” stated Mário Centeno as he opened the ‘Falar em Liberdade’ conference, held this afternoon at the Money Museum in Lisbon.
According to Centeno, Portugal is currently a “society in transition,” whether in immigration or in the economic and financial dimension and convergence with the European Union. He emphasized that the challenges present necessitate a revival of “the spirit of transformation that has defined the recent years.”
Despite the challenges, Centeno believes Portugal today is an example in many areas, be it in the significance of social security or the freedom for each person to express themselves.
“Portugal is an example of how a country can develop, open to the external world, with diversity, equity, and inclusion, DEI,” he jested in English.
Centeno briefly painted a picture of Portugal in 1974, describing it as a poor and underdeveloped country, from the economy to education (with 26% illiteracy in 1974), living conditions (many houses lacked water and electricity) and health (with life expectancy at 68 years in 1974 compared to today’s 82), and the devaluation of women.
He highlighted that soon after the April 25th revolution, a significant economic measure was the institution of the minimum wage. The ambition was so great that 60% of workers began receiving the minimum wage, and it was only in 2017 that it regained the same real value (adjusted for inflation) it had in 1974.
Centeno recalled that on April 25th, he was seven years old and living in the Algarve. On the 26th, schools were closed, and the revolution brought him “the chance to read books that my father kept locked away, to watch cartoons that had not existed for previous childhoods,” and he found it curious that on the other side of the Guadiana River in Spain, the regime was vastly different.
Speaking of the institution he leads, Centeno described the “Bank of Portugal as a child of the revolution,” born from the “liberal revolution in the 19th century and the democratic revolution” of April 25, 1974.
In 1974, the Bank of Portugal was predominantly privately owned and was responsible for issuing currency in mainland Portugal, the Azores, and Madeira (the then “metropolis”). It was nationalized in September 1974 (with the nationalization of issuing banks), becoming entirely state-owned.
Displayed at the Money Museum’s conference room is the car of the Bank of Portugal’s governor in 1974, António Pinto Barbosa, an old, well-restored black Mercedes-Benz. When the Bank of Portugal was nationalized, the car became state property and was subsequently used by Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho at the Continent’s Operational Command (COPCON).
Mário Centeno served as the finance minister in António Costa’s Socialist Party governments (2015-2020). He has been governor of the Bank of Portugal since July 2020, with his term ending this year, though it can be renewed.
For months, Centeno was considered a potential candidate for President of Portugal by the Socialist Party, but in January, he announced on RTP3 that he would not run in the upcoming elections.
Before the ‘Falar em Liberdade’ conference began and as the audience settled in, a song about the Bank of Portugal, a kind of anthem, played, with a refrain suggesting that “the bank is a faithful, the balance’s loyal safeguard.”
Officially queried, a Bank of Portugal representative stated that the lyrics and music are by Carlos Tê and performed by musicians Mário Barreiros, Pedro Santos, Rui David, and Pedro Vidal.
This conference also features a speech by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.
Throughout the afternoon, prominent figures from various fields, including comedian Herman José, musicians Sérgio Godinho, Dino D’Santiago, and Ana Bacalhau, as well as writers Mia Couto and Lídia Jorge, will participate.
