“What separates the Portuguese economy from economies with better performance in terms of per capita GDP are the differences in productivity, and not the number of hours worked,” Costa said at the opening of the 9th Conference of the Bank of Portugal on Portugal’s economic development in Europe.
“We cannot continue with potentially anaemic growth,” he added.
Costa pointed to the importance of strengthening employees’ competencies and a culture of merit and entrepreneurship among other factors.
He also reminded the public that in the latest Global Competitiveness Index, published by the World Economic Forum, Portugal was behind 15 economies in the European Union.