"Most likely it will not be 15 days from now that the reasons [for declaring a state of emergency] will have disappeared", admitted António Costa, who was speaking to the country after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, to discuss the measures of social and economic support for the population affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

"We cannot prevent this impact from occurring, but we cannot accept that this impact will become irreversible," he added.

In view of the uncertainty about the evolution of the covid-19 pandemic, António Costa underlined that "there is something absolutely certain", which is the need to "collectively preserve ourselves until June", to later assess the damage "and to envision a future together" .

For that headded, "it is essential that the companies that exist today do not permanently close their doors," he added.

The Prime Minister stressed that the measures decided in the Council of Ministers, and which are added to a first batch of measures to the state of emergency presented on Thursday, are a “specific effort for these three months [March, April and May]".

"This is not just a fight against the virus, it is a fight for our survival, in good health, but also for a country that creates jobs, remunerates employment, allows prosperity", he defended.

The chief executive also announced today that the payment of VAT and IRC was postponed to the second half of the year, which would have to be paid in the coming months, to guarantee the activity of companies and jobs.

Another of the measures announced is a set of lines of credit accessible to companies, "on condition of job maintenance", the value of which has not been revealed.

A "fundamental measure to improve the liquidity of companies" is "to allow the payment of two thirds of social contributions and also the VAT and IRC deliveries that took place in the next three months to be postponed to the second semester," he said.

The objective is "to contribute to guarantee its activity and jobs", he added.