Maia, Portugal, April 13, 2026 (Lusa) - Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said on Sunday that Portugal is much better than it was in 2024, claiming his administration governs by looking at the needs of individuals rather than leaning to the left or right.
“The Portugal of 2026 is not the same as it was in 2024 (…) I know that this is not talked about much now, but two years ago we were coming out of eight years of constant disinvestment in public services and a budgetary strategy where results were achieved, above all, through higher taxes and greater restraint in public investment,” he said.
Closing a district conference in Maia, Porto, organised by the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and CDS-PP (People's Party), he described the previous situation as an era of minimum services and maximum taxes.
“Today, we have taxes. I won’t say they are minimal, but they are at a minimum compared to what they used to be, and maximum services compared to what we had in 2024,” he said.
He also recalled that in 2024, teachers were protesting in the streets, schools were in turmoil, and security forces were demanding better pay scales.
“Today, 39 agreements later and 29 revised civil service careers later, there is still much to be done to further motivate public sector workers, but we are in a better position than we were,” he said.
Additionally, he highlighted that despite global and European instability over the last two years, Portugal’s economy has grown faster than the Eurozone and EU averages.
"We managed to reach the end of 2024 with income tax falling, the solidarity supplement for the elderly rising, a solidarity supplement paid to pensioners with the lowest pensions, the start of the restoration of teachers’ length-of-service pay, the start of pay rises for the security forces, and all this in 2024, and when they said we were going to throw public finances into disarray, we had our first surplus,” he said.
Furthermore, he said that in 2025, amidst even greater global volatility, the government repeated this achievement and exceeded the estimates of "pessimists" who had predicted, or even hoped, that Portugal would return to a budget deficit.
Concluding his speech, he said that his government was looking after families, including parents, grandparents, and children, to ensure solutions for all.
"We are looking at individuals. We do not govern by looking to the right, nor to the left. We govern by looking at each individual,” he concluded.
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