In the week that Mário Centeno was tipped to take over the helm of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, comes further unexpected praise.
In a piece issued on Wednesday by hard-hitting publication Politico, entitled, “Portugal the new poster child for reform”, comes the apparent news that European superpowers are taking note of the Portuguese Finance Minister’s achievements.
In the article, Politico explains that “twelve months ago it was all so different. Portugal was on the verge of EU economic sanctions and the success of its new left-wing coalition government was far from assured.”
But this week’s news that the country is no longer in breach of European Union budget rules and expects to hand back ten billion euros to the International Monetary Fund well ahead of schedule, has once again underlined the success of Portugal’s leftist government’s financial and anti-austerity policies.
According to information obtained by Politico, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble reportedly called Mário Centeno “the Ronaldo of the ECOFIN” group of finance ministers, which the publication revealed its unnamed Portuguese source as saying was comparable to “winning Eurovision for policy wonks (Geeks)”.
This was followed by Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa giving an ironic welcome to these reported comments by Germany’s finance minister, saying that “whoever said that, for once wasn’t wrong.”
Speaking at a news conference in Luxembourg, where he was on a two-day state visit, the President was quoted as saying by the Lusa News Agency that Portugal’s emergence from European Union’s excessive deficit procedures “is comparable to the merit” of Ronaldo.
“I’ve already had occasion to congratulate all Portuguese for the exit from Excessive Deficit Procedure, for the consistency, for the work,” before stating: “Is the result comparable to the merit of Ronaldo? Yes.”
Other leading political figures, including those from within the ruling Socialist Party, have however been more cautious in their acceptance of this praise, stating that the recent economic progress of the country is not solely due to one single man or even a single government.