Álvaro Santos Pereira has got a new job as the director of the department of Countries Studies at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
It is not just the Portugal's youth that is going abroad for work, the OECD is based in Paris.
Pereira was forced out of high office as a result of the government reshuffle last year when the self-interested behaviour of CDS-PP leader Paulo Portas forced prime minister Passos Coelho to make several concessions in order to keep the coalition together. One of these was to allow Portas to choose a new Economy Minister. He selected Pires de Lima who formerly headed Portuguese drinks company Unicer, and Pereira was forced out of office.
Santos Pereira commented that his new job in France is an important one, it starts in March and most importantly it gets him out of politics, "For me, it was important that I applied for a non-political position and one that was based on the merit of my CV."
The former minister said that he had applied for the advertised position last August and was interviewed twice by the OECD before being offered and accepting the post.
Pereira's replacement in Lisbon was businessman Pires de Lima who has not had a good start despite talking the talk. His defeat over a proposed VAT reduction for restaurants was an early embarrassment and his long heralded reduction in income tax continues to lack a date, and hence any credibility.
Pires de Lima said today that the Government is working to reduce taxes, but will not commit to do so in 2015.
"For me it's a commitment that has been made," said Lima this afternoon on a visit to some shoe factories in the north of Portugal; his vacuous comments continued, saying that he could not "make any promises, but that's the goal."
