In the Lusa Extra podcast interview published on 22 October 2026, Ordem dos Economistas head António Mendonça said Portugal has been stuck on infrastructure for two decades or more.
The government's 2027 State Budget proposal anticipates slower investment as the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) ends, and Mendonça said he sees no measures to offset that reduction.
Mendonça said development plans of the 1950s and 1960s conceived the Sines and Alqueva projects, and that the fourth development plan was not carried forward after 25 April.
Mendonça called the 2027 budget proposal "between inertia and transformation", citing rigidity from social benefits, public-sector salaries, education support and European budget rules.
António Mendonça, bastonário of the Ordem dos Economistas, says Portugal has been stuck on infrastructure for more than two decades. He made the remarks in an interview with the Lusa Extra podcast, published on 22 October 2026. Mendonça served as minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications from 2009 to 2011. He named high-speed rail and a new Lisbon airport as projects that should be designed to produce effects on the wider economy, including by maximising what national companies need.
He said the concern is not unique to Portugal, describing a European debate about renewing industrial policy and reducing dependencies. For a small, open economy, he argued, Portugal must also build growth from within. Public money, in his view, should be judged by its scale and its spillover effects.
“It is not just about giving money, but about seeing to what extent that money can produce scale and produce spillover effects.”
Mendonça criticised the government's proposal for the 2027 State Budget, which he described as "between inertia and transformation". He pointed to rigidity from public spending already committed to social benefits, public-sector salaries and education support, along with European budget rules. The proposal keeps the budget in balance and slightly raises the surplus for 2027, a path he said carries many risks. Structural issues such as housing, education reform and artificial intelligence appear in the document only indirectly, he said. The proposal also forecasts slower investment as the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) ends, and Mendonça said he sees no measures to offset that drop.
Mendonça recalled the strategic planning of the 1950s and 1960s, which ran practically until 1974. Development plans of that period set targets for electrification, modernisation and industrialisation, and the Sines and Alqueva projects were conceived then. He lamented that the fourth development plan was not carried forward after 25 April, and said Portugal never reached consensus on adapting it to the new reality. He argued that the loss left the country without a medium and long-term development vision.
“Unfortunately, I think that perhaps one of the failures of 25 April was not carrying forward the fourth development plan.”
Mendonça said Portugal still lacks a coherent set of strategic objectives for the medium and long term. He acknowledged that some infrastructure investments are already scheduled, but said he does not see them adding up to such a strategy. He also cited the delay in public infrastructure as one of the unresolved problems facing the country. The 2027 budget is still described as a government proposal.
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António Mendonça, bastonário of the Ordem dos Economistas, says investment in Portuguese infrastructure has stood still for more than two decades. He links the warning to the 2027 State Budget proposal, which he expects to slow investment as Recovery and Resilience Plan funding ends.
AI text based on reports by SAPO, Correio da Manha and Notícias ao Minuto. Published .