LISBON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Monday in a report that Portugal needed to expand its tax base and improve its judiciary to better fight corruption.
The OECD's Economic Survey -- Portugal 2019 was critical of Portugal's tax system, saying it had too many exemptions and too many reductions, specifically in terms of VAT.
The report also said that the judicial system had to be improved to better combat and punish graft.
Portugal's Minister of the Economy Pedro Siza Vieira said the Portuguese government acknowledged many of the problems and suggestions presented by the OECD.
But he told a press conference in Lisbon, which followed the release of the report, that "they are proposals that the government need not necessarily follow."
Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, responded by saying "the OECD's role is to hold a mirror up before Portugal and other countries."
He added that Portugal had "proved itself to be a very efficient model" and was "almost an exception in Europe."
"The Portuguese know what to do with Portugal," Gurria concluded. "What we do is to tell them what other countries do with the same problems."
