State took investments out of the “freezer” to face crisis

  • Lusa
  • 14 April 2021

António Costa, Portugal's prime minister, said that the government took investments out of the "freezer" in a speech in which he defended resilience and patience in politics.

Portugal’s prime minister said on Wednesday that his government was “facing a serious crisis” and did the opposite of the path followed ten years ago and took investments out of the “freezer” in a speech in which he defended resilience and patience in politics.

António Costa was talking at the end of the session to sign the consignment of Lot 1 of the Lisbon Metro Expansion Plan to connect Rato and Cais do Sodré stations, with the construction of two new stops at Estrela and Santos – an investment of around €210 million, with the works scheduled to be completed in 2024.

The prime minister highlighted the differences between his government and that of the centre-right PSD/CDS in terms of responses to economic crises.

“We have emerged from the freezer we were in, despite all the constraints that the Covid-19 epidemic has imposed on us. It is not enough for us to govern for today or tomorrow. It is fundamental to be able to look to the future with the certainty that, after this crisis, other crises will come, but we will overcome achieve our objectives,” he told reporters.

António Costa said that 10 years ago when he was Mayor of Lisbon, he witnessed the “practical results of closed metro stations, paralysed works and stopped compositions.”

“The city recovered, grew, but the metro continued to stand still – a mistake for the city, a mistake for environmental policy and a mistake for economic policy. This time, we decided to accelerate all investments. Although we are in the greatest health, economic and social crisis of the last decades, the metro will expand,” he said.