The benefit to the government of rising inflation has been spelled out by secretary of state for fiscal affairs António Mendonça Mendes who predicts consumers will be paying an extra €900 million due to rising prices. In answer to questions raised in parliament, he stressed the State Budget (due to be passed in its final reading tomorrow) includes €1.8 billion to try and address the issue of inflation. Iniciativa Liberal nonetheless sees the situation differently: “the State is benefitting from increased revenue not because the economy is growing but because the cost of things are increasing…” says MP Carlos Guimarães Pinto.
