For the official, there was a “paternalistic attitude of the State” that “decided it should socialize losses from wrong investments.”
“We should not have a socialization of bad investment deals,” he stated at the Business Roundtable Portugal (BRP) conference in Porto.
“When someone is doing their business, they should count on the country, society, and the State,” but not to “cushion the losses caused by wrong decisions.”
Leitão Amaro emphasized that state support should be allocated to people and families in difficulties.
The minister also advocated for a “more regulated immigration policy,” highlighting the need to “redirect the flow to attract more qualified talent” and stating that recruitment requires creating conditions for integration.
Regarding immigration, former Prime Minister Durão Barroso, also present at the event, called for “balance.”
“I have been saying for many years, before this current debate, open doors, yes, wide open doors, no,” he emphasized, while noting that without immigrants, Portugal would “stop.”
“This is the truth, and if we don’t do this, we will have radical, populist, xenophobic, even racist movements,” he warned, advocating for “regulated immigration, with balance” and also “humanism,” such as the situation of refugees, which he says the country has “an obligation to welcome.”
