2018 will be a year to “rethink structural realities”, the President stated
The President of the Portuguese Republic believes 2017 was "too filled" with "contradictory" happenings. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa does not forget the country's achievements nor tragedies.
“It was big year, maybe too filled”. This is how Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa describes 2017, acknowledging the economic and financial successes of the country, as well as the international acknowledgement and a set of “dispensable” events.
The President of the Portuguese Republic also stated he might receive, this Wednesday, the decree of the State Budget for 2018, a document which he has been studying for the past two weeks, in what he says is an “informal task”, which he received “due to the kindness and services of Parliament”, he says.
Recalling the June and October fires, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa acknowledges the efforts made by the Parliament in the “short term”, and he underlines the importance of planning the future, of “rethinking structural realities”.
"It is not just about redoing what was destroyed in people or in communities; it is about rethinking structural realities.”
President of the Portuguese Republic also points to the reduction of debt as a “new and positive” data for the end of 2017: “Public debt will be substantially reduced until the end of the year, as it has been decreasing”, and he also stated that “one of the main priorities is to clear the country’s debt”.
