Dear Editor,
I am at a loss to understand what Troika and the Portuguese government are actually doing.
It seems to me that the only outcome of what is happening will be to totally kill the country’s economy.
Even employees on low salaries little above the legal minimum will take a pay cut of around 5% this year and with tax increases, yet just about everything is more expensive for them.
I am a member of a local gym for instance and many of their clients have had to leave as they cannot afford the membership anymore because of the huge increase in IVA.
One thing is increasing IVA on golf, a sport that the government obviously think is just for the elite. But pricing local gyms out of the market is madness, surely a fit population will work out cheaper for the country in the long run.
I read of a brain drain in the national press, good people leaving Portugal to work elsewhere as it is becoming impossible to make ends meet here.
Tourists also will certainly be put off by all the price hikes when compared to other sunshine destinations in Europe. I love this country and, as a retiree with enough money to get by, I am one of the few who can still afford to live here but those people who should be driving the economy are being given little choice but to drive away.
P. AHLBERG
Messines
