“Today we learned that we will face a serious and severe increase in fuel prices next week, and again in January. This situation is dramatic (…). It is evident that this penalizes and harms the Portuguese economy and businesses,” said Ventura.
In Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Porto district, upon entering a meeting with the Commercial, Industrial and Services Association of Vila Nova De Gaia (ACIGAIA), Ventura acknowledged that the Government “cannot control the price of oil,” but can do more in this matter.
“[The Government] can choose not to end the discount on ISP [Tax on Petroleum Products], which has been in place since the pandemic. Ending it will allow prices to soar. This is what will happen. Therefore, I’d like to urge the Government, as we enter the final week before the State Budget debate, to reconsider,” said the candidate.
André Ventura made a second appeal to the Government: “We know, as announced, that we will have a toll increase of around 2.3% in Portugal next year. This is not acceptable; it harms commerce, industry, and businesses,” he stated.
The Chega-supported candidate argued that the Government “must understand that economic growth is not achieved by decree” and “it is not enough to tell companies ‘you have to grow now,’ leaving them to generate added value.”
“Generating added value requires that costs do not continually rise. It seems that in Portugal, three things are certain: death, rising tolls, and the increase of gasoline and diesel. And that is wrong,” he concluded.
