SDG 8 – Economic growth and decent work

SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals

SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals

Pedro Martins was one of the economists interviewed by Expresso about companies that are testing a shorter workweek. The assessment is positive. Experts said that there are productivity gains, but the transition to this model can be problematic in our country. Who pays for the adjustment? In a country with low wages and a fragile business sector, much reticence is raised. Pedro Martins considered that “without higher levels of remuneration in Portugal, it is very difficult to reduce working time without salary cuts.”

The assets of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) plus the European Central Bank (ECB) are worth more than China's GDP forecast for this year and half of the wealth in the portfolio of the main central banks. This weight has kept debt interest rates and interbank rates low, benefiting the financing of public indebtedness, companies, and families during the pandemic and now in the economic recovery. João Duarte, in an interview to Expresso on this topic, said that “special attention needs to be paid to the transmission that a tightening of monetary policy by the ECB will bring to the cost of housing, namely in countries where most mortgage loan contracts are at variables interest rates.”

Diário de Notícias, about the leadership of Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo, coordinator of the task force for the vaccination plan against COVID-19, interviewed Miguel Pina e Cunha who stated that “his technical competence, mission orientation (…) and great communication skills were decisive." He also emphasized the "assertive and technically grounded responses", which "transmitted authenticity and were very important to gain people's trust". Pedro Neves, to the same newspaper, considered that “it is part of military training to have knowledge of leadership and organization. But there is still another element – genuineness – that characterizes the Vice Admiral.” He also highlighted that “in vaccines there were, and still are, (doubts among the population), about whether they worked or not. In view of this, the vice-admiral's approach was to convey calm, confidence in the work of his team.”

Susana Peralta, to Jornal Económico, about the moratoriums that are postponing unemployment and the bankruptcy of companies explained that despite the mood that the decrease in the unemployment rate in the second quarter of the year brings, it is mainly due to the support still in force in the Portuguese economy. "There will be companies going bankrupt, which will not resist, even with all the Government's policies to mitigate the effects of the end of the moratoriums. Companies with a weaker financial health, which had already accumulated problems before the pandemic, and which are in sectors particularly affected by the pandemic will have difficulties", she explained.

Cátia Batista participated in the InPertinente podcast, promoted by the Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, where she talked about why and how to use experiments to test and measure the impact of economic policies before these are replicated at a large scale. What is the use of implementing economic policies without knowing for sure the population's needs? What is the use of an economic solution if the target audience does not know how to use it? “Economic policies must be tested like medicines”, she explained.

Pedro Brinca commented the recovery dynamics of the Portuguese economy to Expresso . “GDP is close to pre-crisis levels but risks are still there”. He also mentioned, on the structural impacts of the pandemic on the Portuguese economy, that “the economy is coming back to normal, albeit a new normal”. Still to Expresso he said that “Summer is better than 2020 but tourism still drags on growth”. In an interview to Jornal Económico he stressed that “specialists claim that the end of moratoriums will be the litmus test for the economy.”

Pedro Pita Barros in an interview to Explicador (Rádio Observador Podcast) said that “according to a survey carried out in an international project on the availability of people to be vaccinated, Portugal is one of the countries where there is greater confidence in vaccination.” He added that “obligation should not be placed in Portugal” the "vaccine is the way forward" and will not be put at risk by the “irrelevant number of deniers”. “There must always be credible and honest information given at every moment by the authorities of each country”, he highlighted.

Daniel Traça gave an interview to Líder Magazine about the role of a leader and his decisions during troubled times. He stated that the lesson learned from the pandemics is that “there is no problem bigger than us, except health issues. The rest is to bring people together, talk, respect and make them go in the same direction.”