“The Socialist Party is confident that families and businesses, who have made significant efforts in recent years to ensure Portugal achieves financial stability, will not be deceived. The reality is this: the budget balance has worsened, and the tax burden has increased in the peak of our economic cycle,” stated PS lawmaker António Mendonça Mendes to journalists.
The Socialist highlighted that the “results revealed today are the consequence of disrupting sound fiscal management.”
“The finance minister’s statement can only be understood in the context of an electoral campaign, where there is an attempt to mislead the Portuguese by not speaking objectively about the country’s budgetary situation,” he argued.
António Mendonça Mendes, who previously served as Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, emphasized that families and businesses currently pay more taxes than they did a year ago, and the budget balance is lower.
“This outcome is rare and its rarity is unfavorable. It’s the first time this century that we are seeing a combination of a peak economic cycle, worsening budget balance, and increased tax burden,” he cautioned.
