At a press conference in Parliament, the parliamentary leader of the PSD, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, detailed this program - presented in the form of a draft resolution hoping it will be discussed and voted on "as soon as possible" - which had already been announced by the party leader, Luís Montenegro, at the Pontal Festival, in mid-August.

Criticising the insensitivity of the Government to the economic and social difficulties of families and companies, Miranda Sarmento said that the overall value of the social emergency program will be close to 1.5 billion euros, an increase from the initial value indicated by Montenegro (one billion).

The social democrat justified this difference with the "worsening situation of families and companies in recent weeks", but also with the fact that the July execution shows that "there is a very significant additional revenue and that these measures do not compromise the deficit target or the debt reduction".

One of the proposals is the reduction of VAT on energy (fuel, electricity and gas) to 6 percent, a measure that the PSD proposes in the text of the draft resolution that may "be in force for an initial period of six months, automatically extendable for an equal period unless a parliamentary decision is taken to the contrary based on a reversal of the price increases of those periods accumulated in the meantime".

In the opinion of the PSD parliamentary leader, "it is not understandable how the Government has not yet reduced the VAT rate on energy", noting that "several European countries have already done so despite there being no formal decision from the European Commission".

"Today, from the news we know, the Government and the Prime Minister have deceived the Portuguese during these six months by saying it was not possible to lower the VAT on fuel, electricity and gas," he accused.

The remaining measures of the seven-axis program are scheduled to last four months because, according to the PSD parliamentary leader, the discussion of the State Budget for 2023 will follow.

Among these measures is the allocation of a food voucher worth 40 euros per month to all pensioners who have a pension up to 1,108 euros, between September and December this year, and to all citizens in active life and earning income up to the third income tax bracket, during the same period.

The social democrats' social emergency program also proposes the reduction of personal income tax in the fourth, fifth and sixth brackets, a measure budgeted at 200 million euros.

The party led by Luís Montenegro also intends to allocate 10 additional euros per month to all children and young people receiving family allowance, starting this month and until the end of the year.

For small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and IPSS (private charities), it is proposed to create lines of financial support "to cope with the rising costs of energy".

In this sense, the social democrats want a capitalisation line for companies in the sectors most affected by the rise in fuel prices. This would be done in partnership with the European Investment Bank and would make 250 million euros available.

For agri-food producers, the PSD has considered including agricultural cooperatives in "professional diesel", but only for companies with the economic activity classification "transporter".

The social emergency plan also provides for a greater discount on the final price of diesel used in agriculture, which will translate into a reduction of 20 cents per litre.