Portuguese PM says G20 not ready to decide on taxing the super-rich

Neither Portugal nor the G20 is "yet in a position to take a decision" on a tax on the super-rich, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said on the sidelines of the G20 summit, noting he was open to discussing the matter.

At the G20 summit, in which Portugal is participating for the first time as an observer, at the invitation of the Brazilian presidency, Luís Montenegro answered questions from the media on Monday about the possibility of a global tax on large fortunes.

"It's an issue that is, as it was on the table, that we view from a conceptual point of view with openness, but naturally, we are not yet in a position - neither we nor our partners at this summit, I believe - to take a decision," he said.

Montenegro said that the idea behind this new tax was "greater solidarity between those who have more resources and those who have less".

"And this principle, I believe, is a universal principle of those who care about the dignity of people, of those who care about the resolution of the effective and concrete problems that many millions of people have in the world when they are faced with inaccessibility to what is most basic in their lives," he added.

The Brazilian government already acknowledged on Monday the difficulties in implementing a global tax on the super-rich at the G20 summit, given the objections of some heads of state.

Speaking at an event on the summit's sidelines, Environment Minister Marina Silva said that "some leaders" had objections "to issues linked to the climate agenda, to the financing agenda, above all to the issue of taxing the super-rich".

In the absence of a consensus among finance ministers, the creation of the tax now depends on a political decision by heads of state and government, but agreement is proving difficult in the face of opposition from countries such as the United States and Germany.

France, Spain, and South Africa, which will take over the forum's temporary presidency from Brazil next week, have already declared their support.

Portugal, for example, is still undecided.

"The tax for the super-rich is something that deserves study and consideration, to which we are open," Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told journalists on the way out of a G20 meeting in July.

Nevertheless, the Portuguese minister stressed that "its contours are not fully defined".

Argentina has been one of the main obstacles to a joint declaration becoming a reality. Indeed, Argentina withdrew shortly after the start of the COP29 climate summit in Baku and failed to sign a ministerial declaration on women's empowerment at the G20 in October.

According to a study commissioned by Brazil, if the world's 3,300 billionaires paid the equivalent of 2% of their wealth, between US$200 billion and US$250 billion could be raised annually.

Leaders of the G20 group and invited countries, including Portugal, will meet in Rio de Janeiro on Monday to discuss joining a global alliance against hunger and reforming international organisations.

(Sara Madeira – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)