Finance Minister to ECO: The main challenges for 2026 will be to “continue the transformative agenda” and finalise the implementation of the PRR

More labour, reducing bureaucracy and labour reform. This is the Finance Minister’s recipe for getting the national economy to “grow above its performance in recent years”, pointing to the Government’s “transformative and reformist agenda” launched in April 2024 and the “completion of the Recovery and Resilience Plan” as the main challenges for 2026.

In an opinion piece published in the 17th edition of ECO magazine, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento highlights the need for “human capital” in all sectors of the economy as one of the “three fundamental areas” for economic growth, alongside retaining young people and attracting highly qualified staff, in order to combat “low levels of productivity and competitiveness”.

At the same time, the minister stresses the importance of “reducing bureaucracy, time and the cost of licensing and authorisations”. In short, simplifying “everything that impacts business activity and people’s lives”.

As for the reform of the Labour Code, which led to the general strike on 11 December, the aim, according to the Minister of Finance, is to “simplify and bring labour rules into line with the new economic realities, particularly with technological acceleration and the post-pandemic period”.

In the same article, Miranda Sarmento also highlights other areas which, although “at a lower level”, are equally relevant to putting the Portuguese economy on the path to growth. These are the tax system, through “simplification, reform of tax litigation and reduction of income tax and corporation tax rates”; the role of Banco de Fomento, with “capitalisation, attracting Foreign Direct Investment and scale”; and, finally, Science and Innovation, through an “increasingly strong link between Higher Education and companies, turning knowledge into innovation and value creation”.

“This is in a context of budgetary balance, with surpluses between 2024 and 2026, and a reduction in public debt (which remains one of our country’s weakest points)”, reiterates the minister, considering that the reform that the Government is carrying out in Public Finances “will allow for better management and greater efficiency in public spending”.

For 2026, the Minister of State and Finance wants it to be “a year of affirmation of Portugal’s economic capacity”. “It is in times of prosperity and relative tranquillity that we must have the courage to undertake reforms and measures that may be difficult and unpopular with some, but which are fundamental to our collective future”, he argues.