It is going to be a very long summer with politicians claiming anything and everything in the run-up to the autumn elections.
Forever the showman, Paulo Portas donned hard hat today to look cameramen in the eyes, and declare Portugal is on the road to break all records when it comes to exports.
Citing data just published, Portas said there had been an increase in exports of 4% this year (compared to last) and a slowing down of imports (-1.4%).
Narrowed down to the month of March, he was able to present data as a 10.9% increase, compared to the March of 2014.
But he was forgetting his lines from last Friday, when, minus hard hat, he talked of Portugal’s “not ideal” situation in a “very anaemic Eurozone”.
On Friday, his message was a great deal more sombre, stressing the need for “fiscal moderation, job creation and the servicing of Portugal’s debt”.
These “three things” would only be possible with “solid, sustainable growth” which, he added, was on the cards at the rate of “above 2%” in the coming years.
Portugal is one of three countries in the EU set to grow this year, he claimed, the other two being Spain and Ireland.
