LISBON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Portugese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in a speech here on Monday that the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic makes this moment one of the "most difficult and demanding, if not the most suffered" in recent years, according to the website of the presidency.
The president made the speech at the ceremony to mark the 110th anniversary of overthrowing the monarchy in Portugal. This year's ceremony was held in a restricted format and also attended by Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Parliament Speaker Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues.
The president said that "the economic recovery will last for years, and more years even if it is a wasted opportunity to change institutions and behaviors and irreversibly anticipate our future."
The changes "will only be really worthwhile if it does not serve only privileged Portuguese, but allows overcoming poverty, inequality, social injustice," he noted.
The Portuguese president pointed out that "the abrupt halt in economic activities have led to unemployment or low wages in a considerable part of the private sector, and suffocation of countless micro, small and medium-sized companies, with an accelerated increase in the budget deficit and public debt".
According to him, the resumption is taking place "unevenly and, in multiple cases, hesitant or not lasting for the paralyzed activity", and changes are necessary because Portugal is "in a state of economic and social exception". Enditem
