Cuts to electricity tax and €125 for everyone // Pensioners to lose out from bonus in the long run
Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, September 13, 2022.
By the numbers
NOTE: I’m sorry this week’s newsletter is so late. I’ve been working overtime all weekend covering the Queen. There won’t be a newsletter this weekend or the next as I’ll be away.
Cuts to electricity tax and €125 for everyone
The government has introduced a range of measures meant to ease the pain of inflation, headlined by a €125 payment to everyone earning under €37,800 a year, Público reports. Other one-off measures to be paid in October include €50 per dependent child (up to the age of 24) and a 50% bump for pensioners. The government is also limiting rent increases (for contracts indexed to inflation) to 2%, freezing public transport prices, proposing to reduce the VAT (IVA) paid on electricity from 13% to 6% and allowing gas consumers to switch back to the regulated market, which should be significantly cheaper. The electricity reduction applies only to the first 100kWh of monthly use and only for people with 6.9kVA of apparent power (potencia), Público reports. The VAT remains at 23% for the rest of the bill. Público reports you shouldn’t need to do anything to receive the €125 as it will arrive directly in your bank account from either the Tax and Customs Authority (Finanças) or Social Security (Segurança Social). There are links on both sites to update your IBAN to make sure you get the payment and the income limit is calculated on earnings from last year. The European Central Bank, in an effort to fight inflation, raised interest rates by 75 basis points, and warned lenders to expect another two to four raises in coming months, Público reports.
Pensioners to lose out in the long run
The 50% October bonus will leave pensioners worse off in the long-term as pension increases will be roughly half what they should be next year, Público reports. The government says pensioners will receive the same amount of money this year and next year as they would have without the bonus payment, just spread over a longer period of time. But the smaller increase in 2023 will mean lower-than-expected payments from 2024 onwards. The opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) accused the government of making a permanent cut to pensions, Lusa reports. A public sector union argued inflation shouldn’t be fought with “vouchers, payments and extraordinary supplements” but with fair pay and pensions, well-spent public money and measures to reduce soaring rental prices, Público reports.
‘Unprecedented cyberattack’ on armed forces
The General Staff of the Armed Forces suffered a “prolonged and unprecedented cyberattack” that resulted in the exfiltration of NATO documents, Diário de Notícias reports. It’s believed the Portuguese government only found out about the attack last month through US intelligence agencies after they found hundreds of secret and classified documents sent by NATO to Portugal for sale on the dark web. Sources told the newspaper early investigations indicated rules regarding the safe transmission of classified documents had been broken. In other cybersecurity news, a vulnerability hidden in the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SINAVE) allowed access to personal details, Público reports. These included full names, telephone numbers, birthdays and NIFs. Suspected COVID-19 patients and test results have been registered on this notifiable diseases database since March 2020. It’s unclear whether the vulnerability, which was fixed in March this year after discovery by a Portuguese programmer, was exploited or how long it existed for.
In brief
Portugal must improve waste treatment, air quality and management of protected nature. Almost 50 per cent of urban waste is going into landfill and many dumps aren’t properly treating their waste before it's buried. (Público)
SNS hospitals struggling to hire nurses. A union says one hospital, Amadora-Sintra, has 100 vacancies. (Público)
Government promises measures to combat violent crime after shot fired in shopping centre. A suspect was arrested for attempted murder after allegedly shooting at two people in Almada Forum on Saturday. (Diário de Notícias)
Marcelo defends involvement in Brazil bicentennial celebrations with Bolsanaro. The Portuguese president was by the Brazilian president’s side when he was photographed holding an altered Brazilian flag with a picture of a baby and the phrase “Brazil with abortion, Brazil without drugs”. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he didn’t see the flag and the important thing was Portugal being represented in a historic moment. (Público)
Manuel Pizarro is the new health minister. Former minister Marta Temido said the health sector had begun to see her as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. (Diário de Notícias)
On a lighter note
Despite being surrounded by water, Portugal isn’t exactly known for swimming. So the emergence of Diogo Ribeiro, 17, onto the world stage, leaving a host of shattered junior national records and even a couple of adult marks in his wake, has fans of the sport in Portugal very excited. He’s the current junior world champion in the 50m freestyle and the 50m and 100m butterfly and won a bronze in the recent European championships. People are already talking about him as potentially becoming Portugal’s best ever swimmer, Público reports.