Portugal's new govt sees EU aid as firing up economic growth

Members of Portugal’s center-left Socialist Party are set to be sworn into office for the party’s third straight term in government

LISBON, Portugal -- Members of Portugal’s center-left Socialist Party are set to be sworn into office Wednesday for the party's third straight term in government as the country prepares to start spending some 45 billion euros ($50 billion) in European Union aid to help fire up one of the bloc’s weakest economies.

The Socialists captured 120 seats in the 230-seat parliament in a landslide January election, opening a path for far-reaching reforms long postponed by political quarreling. The main opposition center-right Social Democratic Party has 77 seats.

Prime Minister António Costa, the Socialist Party leader who has led the country since 2015, promised an economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic but now faces headwinds stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Portugal, a country of around 10.3 million people, has for more than two decades been marked by low growth, low productivity and low salaries.