Rents, tolls and public transport are among the services that are set to go up during the first days of January, potentially even rising further during the course of 2019. Some relief will come in the shape of energy bills, with electricity costs set to fall by around 3.5 percent.
Sugary non-alcoholic drinks are also once again on the government’s target list, and will be taxed according to their sugar content.
Tobacco, which has hardly seen any increases in the past decade, will also go up, with a pack of cigarettes going up by 10 cents and will now cost around 5 euros.
Regulated rental payments will post their biggest hikesince 2013, and will be matched to the anticipated inflation rate, which will hover around the 1 percent mark.
Toll price rises will also be linked to the consumer price index, but will see most stretches of tolled motorways not rise by more than 5 cents.
Motorists can also expect to once again be charged with aiding to fill the state’s depleted coffers. While all new cars will be taxed higher and road tax also pushed up, vehicles that pollute the most will be subject to the highest price hikes.
The Lisbon Municipal Assembly meanwhile approved the doubling of the capital’s Tourist Tax.
The move was approved by the Socialist party, the PAN People–Animals–Nature party, the Left Bloc and nine independents.
The tax will now rise from its current figure of one euro to two euros.
The proposal, presented by the Left Bloc, will see funds from the tax invested in cleaning services and improving transport connections in parts of the city facing greater pressure from tourism.
One increase that will be widely welcomed, at least by current home-owners, is that in house prices, with real estate in Portugal set to go up for at least the coming two years.
Financial rating agency Moody’s, so often the bearer of negative news for Portugal at the start of the decade, has said that house prices will rise by around 7 to 8 percent between now and 2020.
Portugal is also expected to record the biggest increase in house prices across Europe, followed closely by Ireland and the Netherlands.
Real estate in Portugal has been on the up since 2013, and in 2017, surpassed prices in the boom years leading up to the financial crisis which started in 2008.