Journalists heard on Wednesday how the legalisation of drugs and prostitution could help the country’s battered economy.
INE, the national statistics institute, was due to hold a conference as The Resident went to press, detailing how the parallel economy can be brought out of the shadows to boost economic growth.
Bizarre as it sounds, this has already been proved in Italy, Ireland and even UK.
The Portuguese press claims INE means to show how money made from the sale of drugs and prostitution could be included in the calculations for GDP, representing an estimated growth of 1%-2%.
It says the legalisation of prostitution, for example, would channel as much as a billion euros into the economy every year – boosting state coffers by as much as €500 million.
Carrying an interview with AIDS worker Luís Mendão, Correio da Manhã stresses that legalisation in the case of certain drugs can also stop the danger of drugs being adulterated.
INE’s conference on Wednesday was expected to confirm that the parallel economy in Portugal not only represents 25% of GDP but is growing exponentially. CM claims that as a result of it, the state is losing “more than €15 billion” every year.
