Portugal’s Left Bloc leader wants the governor of the Bank of Portugal to be sacked, as does the leader of the Communist Pary, Jerónimo de Sousa.
Catarina Martins says that the bank’s governor, Carlos Costa, is not fit for office and refers to the many serious errors of judgement that he has made during his time at the helm of Portugal’s central bank, especially in his supervisory role.
The Prime Minister is no great fan either, but was saddled with Carlos Costa after the last government extended his term of office by a further five years while knowing this would cause tensions between the two Costas.
It may be hard to get rid of the head of the Bank of Portugal as he is partially protected by a special statute and is subject to supervision under the European supervisory system.
Carlos Costa was appointed in June, 2010 during the José Sócrates socialist government and reappointed in 2015 by the Pedro Passos Coelho coalition government just months before this fell to the current administration led by António Costa.
Catarina Martins already has pointed out the serious failures of the governor of the Bank of Portugal and the mood among many MPs, also is that it is time for Carlos Costa to leave.
The Left Bloc leader is not convinced by the "immovability" argument being used by the PM, saying that if there is misconduct or an inability to perform, then he can be fired.
Pointing out a few of Costa's more expensive and politically damaging mistakes, Martins said that there have been a number of doubts and concerns recently.
In her address to the dozens of supporters gathered at a Left Bloc party dinner, Catarina Martins addressed another current issue: the €10 billion in transfers to offshore destinations between 2011 and 2014 that were kept secret from the Tax Authority.
The Left Bloc leader recalled that the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs at the time of these transfers, Paulo Núncio, earlier had been involved with the Austrian company that sold Pandur armoured vehicles to Portugal in a deal managed by the shady former minister Paulo Portas when he was in charge of defence.
Núncio was the lawyer representing the Austrian seller in the disastrous 2005 deal worth €364 million in which Portugal's taxpayers lost €400 million.
For this reason, Catarina Martins does not believe a word Núncio says about the €10 billion in offshore transfers remaining secret 'due to computer error,' and nor does anyone else.
