The confederation of small- and medium-sized businesses (the bulk of businesses in Portugal) has reacted very negatively to the announcement by prime minister Luís Montenegro of a ‘public guarantee’ covering businesses’ energy costs.
To be fair, the guarantee announced almost theatrically – during a speech in which the PM poured fulsome praise on the achievements of his executive over the last two years – was very much presented as a ‘look at what we’re doing now’ moment.
But Jorge Pisco, chairman of the small- and medium-sized businesses confederation (CPPME), has dismissed the gesture as “pomp and circumstance” that doesn’t actually help his members at all: the reason being that the €600 million credit line represents ‘debt’, explains Pisco. And no business wants that at a juncture as uncertain as the one at which we are all now (and with interest rates “very high”).
Talking to TSF Rádio, Pisco said the government should be doing a great deal more to stall the increase in costs – very much along the lines of Spain, which has introduced a €5 billion emergency package that actually sets out to save consumers money, not put them into positions of debt.
Spain’s package involves 80 measures, including the slashing of IVA (VAT) (from 21% to 10%) on electricity, natural gas, wood pellets and firewood; a marked reduction of taxes on petrol and diesel, fuel subsidies of 20 cents per litre for hauliers, farmers, and fishermen, and equivalent subsidies for the purchase of fertilizers.
Portuguese firefighters, and businesses in the agricultural sector, have already made the comparison between measures of mitigation introduced by Spain and Portugal, and found Portugal to come out by far the loser. Now, Jorge Pisco is ramming that message home, insisting that there should be non-repayable grants given to businesses, with a ‘fast-track’ system drawn up to see that they get money quickly.
He has also stressed that 75% of the government’s PTRR (Portugal Transformation, Recovery and Resilience) programme should be focused on helping small and medium sized businesses. Jobs should be protected “in articulation with Social Security”, he added. “These are measures that the government has to take.”
Spain has shown the way it can be done (it has even frozen rent increases…) But the AD executive has, this far, ‘not seen the necessity’ – even though Jorge Pisco isn’t the only one pointing this out.
