“Why has Portugal grown by 1% every year for the last 20 years and Ireland by 5%? Why is the average net profit in Portugal 1,000 1,000 and in Ireland double? ” Questions from Antonio Horta Osorio, The President of Credit Suisse argued this Thursday that “there is a clear problem with the growth and aspirations of the Portuguese community, we are satisfied with the level of wealth we have, we are satisfied with a country that is not growing.”

At the end of a conference hosted by Jonale de Negosios to discuss the future of banking, the banker, in his diagnosis, attributed the low economic growth in Portugal to “profound competition and innovation.” Population – If nothing is done, the population will drop by one million in the next 30 years.

Referring to this “growth problem” he identified in Portugal, Horta Osorio said, “Continuous governments think in small cycles, but Portuguese society needs to think about it.

We need to think about how money is allocated, public money. Do we set aside public money for the right priorities? Are we allocating money for current expenses or for investments that will allow us to create more wealth in the future? I think we’re more than the first, ”Horta Osorio defended.

What steps need to be taken to change this situation, which involves “a lot of debt”: “Do we have to be like ants or like cicadas?Antonio Horta Osorio asks, “Governments – rightly – supported society in the Pandemic”, which led to an increase of more than 130% in GDP.

“We need to prioritize reducing this debt”, because “The burden of this debt will become unbearable When rates are 2% instead of zero. Sooner or later they will be 2%, he predicted.

The Banker acknowledged that the Recovery and Reliance Plan (PRR) was an “important opportunity” to expose the economy to competition and to support innovation – “this will lead to further growth in the future.” Look at Ireland or Singapore, what action they took“, Shot.

Should reducing the role of the state in the economy be made a priority? “Personally, I think money makes good use of its owners, and private enterprise leads to better results than a central management venture,” said Horta Osorio. “This is clear from the history of the last 50 years: private enterprise creates more wealth,” he said, adding that people still need to have “safety nets” and ensure social security.

At one point while discussing the Portuguese minimum wage increase, Horta Osorio commented, “The issue of the minimum wage is important, but What defines a country is not the minimum wage, but the average wage. In the case of Portugal, it is very close to the minimum wage. “In Spain, the average salary is 50% higher than in Portugal,” the official said.

Antonio Horto Osorio has shown that he is less concerned about the pandemic than the risks of general inflation (including energy), supply chain difficulties, protectionist policies, and rising inflation.

Horta Osorio talks about the dangers of inflation “The central banks made a speech … boldly“As they assure us, this is only a temporary phenomenon, as Mario Sentino did at the same conference a few hours ago.”