“ We trust that the budget must be balanced,” says Leitão Amaro

O minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, considered this Friday that the Government has done everything to lower taxes on the Portuguese, stressing that for three years they have been descending. He also pointed out that the net income of the Portuguese increased by 15% since two years ago. 

“ For years, whenever we heard about taxes in Portugal, it was: ‘What is going to increase now?’. We remember, it was the recipe of the former socialist government, it increased mainly indirect taxes ", said Leitão Amaro, in an interview with RTP News. 

And he added: “Now, for three years, every time you talk in Portugal it is [because] taxes go down.”. 

Leitão Amaro pointed out that “it is also because of this that, in addition to the growth of the economy, at the end of two and a half years of government, the net income of the Portuguese increased 15%”. “15% of net income after paying taxes means it’s like people have two more wages,” he said. 

On the confidence that the State Budget for 2027 which will be adopted generally will be the same as that which will reach the overall final vote, the minister noted that “it depends on Parliament”. “We trust that the budget must be balanced as the proposal is,” he said.

“ We do not think that the country should return to periods of deficit, even in times of crisis. We have already tried the strategy in the governments of José Socrates from when there begins to be some difficulty to start ‘spent at the guts’ and then pay much more and in a much more painful way. We feel that we should not do this, we should return everything possible to the Portuguese ", said. 

The governor also said that at the end of August, the government realized that “there was some margin after a very careful management of public finances.” “We did not want to have surplus, we returned in pensions and in IRS for workers because we know we are actually living a moment that for some there are difficulties,” he stressed.

Protests in Portugal?

Asked whether there can be a contagion effect in Portugal of the protests that are currently taking place in France, Belgium or Spain, António Leitão Amaro stressed that the Government is “doing everything to prevent this from happening”. 

“In fact, we still hear in Parliament today the call of some left-wing parties for this to happen here. We are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening,” he said.

The Minister of the Presidency pointed out that Portugal is “at a time when the economy is growing more than in virtually every country in Europe”.

Elections? “Nobody wants”

During the interview, Leitão Amaro also stressed that the Portuguese do not want to go to elections. “No one wants to go to elections. We had elections in 2022 in 2024 in 2025. I think all the Portuguese say: ‘Let these women and men rule until the end, leave us alone from elections for now. Do your part and we evaluate at the end’”.

And he added: “This is how a mature country does it, this is how a stable country does it. Such stability is also important for us to have such prosperity and security. We are doing our part, we will always try to do better”.

The governor also noted that, “in several respects”, for days they are more difficult, “but these numbers of growth, employment, which are the best in Europe, give us hope that, between this and the reforms that we are doing in the various areas – Education, Health, Housing –, will produce more results and the Portuguese live better,” he pointed out.