"Just this week I spoke with the president of the Portuguese Textile and Clothing Association (ATP), who sent me a letter about the rise in electricity and gas prices," said Pedro Siza Vieira.

He added that "we must not forget that next year, electricity in Portugal will have a significant reduction in terms of network access tariffs."

For the minister, this means that for domestic and low voltage consumers in the regulated market, the price of energy will decrease compared to the beginning of this year.

"We've already had good news in electricity, the price of gas is more difficult, but we will continue to work," he said.

Asked if he promised concrete measures to the president of the ATP, Siza Vieira replied: "I don't promise anything, I work and, as we did with electricity, we don't commit to anything until we have the conditions verified so that we can be confident that next year the tariffs access to the network will be reduced very significantly".

According to the minister, Portugal has a greater penetration of renewable energy than other countries and, therefore, it can be expected that energy will become a factor in the industry's competitiveness in the coming years.

"What we have heard, that electricity was more expensive in Portugal than in the rest of Europe, will, after all, become a competitive advantage as early as next year," he said.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stated on October 14 that he hoped that the current rise in energy prices would not extend beyond “March, April” 2022, harming economic recovery, but warned that after this period it would be a factor that would weigh on the recovery of the economy in Europe and in the world.