António Costa guaranteed, this Saturday, October 14th, in a session organized by JS in Portimão, that Social Security is “good and recommended”, contrary to what the right predicted.
«Social Security is good today and recommended and is good today and recommended for a fundamental reason: employment, employment, employment. Because more jobs and better wages are more revenue in social security», highlighted António Costa within the scope of the PS “Presta Contas” initiative, dedicated to the presentation of the State Budget proposal for 2024.
In a session of Forum Europe, organized by Juventude Socialista (JS) in a hotel in Alvor, Portimão, the chief executive said that when he arrived in Government, in 2015, «the right-wing had pre-announced the bankruptcy of social security».
«So social security has not gone bankrupt. Social security has, year after year, increased social benefits and restored all pensions", stated the prime minister, adding that his executive "extraordinarily increased several pensions", with the mechanism holding up.
In an audience made up of around two hundred young socialists, Costa reinforced that this issue "is very important" for the new generations and insisted that the right had been trying to convince them that older people "were going to spend all the money there was on social security and that there would be nothing left” for the youngest.
According to the Prime Minister, the right even used the expression “gray plague that threatened new generations”.
“Our grandparents and our parents are not threats to us. Our grandparents and our parents are those who raised us, trained us, who accompany us and who will continue to accompany us and who we will continue to accompany because that is exactly what generational solidarity is", said António Costa.
The government official defended that the budget proposal for 2024 reinforces investments, income and investment, concluding that it “protects the future in several ways”.
The prime minister had started by stating that today the country is very different from what existed in 1995, when fellow socialist António Guterres made a commitment, at the time, to education.
«This passion of António Guterres bore fruit», assured António Costa, noting that the school dropout rate fell from 44% to the current 6%.
The Prime Minister also defended that «the tourism sector is important», but that, contrary to what the right says, it is not at the expense of this sector that the country lives.
“The right-wing model is always the same”, based on “low wages”, he said.
The Government presented on Wednesday the OE2024 proposal, which revises the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) upwards in 2023, from 1,8% to 2,2%, and downwards from 2,0% to 1,5. XNUMX% next year.
The proposed law also foresees the best budget balance in a democracy, with 0,8% of GDP in 2023 and 0,2% in 2024.
The OE2024 proposal is discussed in general on the 30th and 31st of October.
The second session of a total of 14 of the PS Presta Accounts initiative will feature the participation of Mariana Vieira da Silva, at the Crato Municipal Auditorium, on Sunday.
On Monday, Pedro Adão e Silva presents OE2024 at the Centro Recreativo de Dentros, in Castro Verde, and the following day Marina Gonçalves will be at the Centro de Estudos Camiliano – Seide, in Famalicão.
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