European Commissioner for the economy Paolo Gentiloni said on Friday that there is room to increase wages in Portugal, at a joint press conference with the finance minister in Lisbon.
“In some sectors where demand was particularly strong and there were extraordinary levels of profits, this may allow the private sector and unions to find room for manoeuvre to increase the purchasing power” of workers, said Paolo Gentiloni, considering that in this case wage increases would not contribute to increasing inflation.
In its report, released this week, the Bank of Portugal’s board of directors noted that last year there were companies that had benefited from the climate of rising prices and “had also increased their profit margins.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has been discussing the impact of corporate profit margins on the inflationary surge.
Gentiloni is in Lisbon today, where he met with the finance minister, Fernando Medina, and both held a joint press conference at the ministry of finance.
According to information obtained by Lusa, the Italian commissioner is also in Portugal to take part in the meeting of the Bilderberg group (which is being held in a Lisbon hotel and will continue until Sunday).
