Portugal’s new ministers of the Economy and Finances sworn in

Pedro Reis, the man who used to head Portugal’s overseas investment bureau AICEP Portugal Global has been officially sworn in as the AD coalition government’s new Minister of the Economy.

At the same time, Portugal’s new Minister of Finances has also been sworn in. He is Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, a close ally of the new Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro who has accompanied him on key meetings within the centre-right PSD party since July 2022 and was the PSD chief whip in the Portuguese parliament.
Miranda Sarmento, 45, was president of the National Strategic Council for the PSD when it was led by Rui Rio and was a one-time economic adviser for the PSD President of the Republic, Ánibal Cavaco Silva. One of his last engagements before being appointed a minister was to explain the outcome of the Portuguese elections to an audience of mostly Americans at a debate organised by the American Club of Lisbon in March.
Pedro Reis is President of the Advisory Council of the International Club of Portugal (ICPT) (pictured), a staunch supporter of SMEs and economic diplomacy, and believes that bringing Portugal’s growth rate up to 3.5% is possible.
His recipe for success is growing the country’s GDP by recovering the economic diplomacy that he says has been lost in recent years. He also believes in slashing taxes, cutting red tape and reducing bureaucratic costs.
Miranda Sarmento also wants to raise Portugal’s growth by 2.5% by 2025 and 3.4% by 2028. For 10 years he worked at the Portuguese Ministry of Finance.