The Economy Minister, António Pires de Lima, said today that "tirades" from the opposition make it appear that they are "angry about the economic recovery."
Pires de Lima was in parliament today involved in the discussions over the 2014 State Budget which went on for 5 hours, not quite a full working day despite politicians' referring to the session as a marathon.
During his speech Pires de Lima appealed several times for political consensus and cited several times recent the positive indicators of the Portuguese economy, in which although confident, de Lima said they should be taken with a degree of caution.
"I have heard the impassioned speeches of the opposition and I think that time will provide the best answer and the best response to the questions and concerns of the opposition,” he said, adding that the PS, the Left Bloc and the Communist Party "run the risk of appearing to be angry with the economic recovery."
Pires de Lima reiterated that private companies do not have to wait for the state to increase the national minimum wage before agreeing wage rises and argued that those companies that are performing well should share the gains with their workers, a comment that will not win him many friends in the business community.
“The private sector does not have to wait for the state to increase the national minimum wage, as anyway it can not do so before the end of the Troika period of austerity.”
