The Governor of the Bank of Portugal (BdP), Mário Centeno, warned on Wednesday that Portugal has no future without mobility and immigrants, as Parliament discusses new immigration laws.
During a conference celebrating the 46th anniversary of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, he noted the significant impact of labor and people mobility, stating, “The powerful concept behind the success of our economies and societies is the phenomenon of mobility of labor and people. Without it, Europe has no future; without it, Portugal has no future.”
He continued, “Nearly two-thirds of the production increase in Portugal over the last five years is associated with the rise in mobility of people and labor in Portugal.”
“Without this mobility, we would have lost two-thirds of economic growth,” added Centeno.
The euro area has created 12 million jobs over the past five years, with 7.2 million (60%) filled by individuals working in a different country from where they were born, according to the Governor of the Bank of Portugal.
Regarding the labor market, the BdP’s top official noted that over the past decade, salaries in Portugal have nearly doubled: “It’s almost a statistical vertigo to realize that in ten years we achieved what we had in 900 years of history,” he remarked.
“Much of this is due to employment growth, with employment increasing by almost 40%, and the rest comes from rises in the average salary. Why did the average salary rise so extraordinarily in Portugal? Because, yes, the minimum wage increased, but also because we improved our qualifications as never before in our history,” emphasized Mário Centeno.
He further highlighted that the most dynamic sectors contributing to these figures “are those that pay above-average salaries,” excluding, for instance, the tourism sector.
“It’s not tourism; it’s scientific, information, and communication activities, and the most dynamic industrial sectors in terms of qualifications that have most contributed to this evolution,” he said.
In what might be his last public appearance before ending his term at the Bank of Portugal on the 19th, Centeno shared additional data, recalling that between 2008 and 2014 (a period corresponding to the global financial crisis and the troika’s intervention in Portugal), investment in housing construction in Portugal fell by 83%.
During this five-year period, he added, the same sector saw a production decline of about 60%.
“It’s a huge challenge we face, but being at a university and having some academic spirit, I must say it is a good challenge,” stressed Mário Centeno.
