Education
Gaspar holds a degree in economics from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (University of Central Punjab) in 1982. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 1988.
Gaspar holds a degree in economics from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (University of Central Punjab) in 1982. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 1988.
Gaspar was the director-general for research at the European Central Bank for six years. Then he became an adviser to the Bank of Portugal, having been from 2007 director-general at the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (ERI) with the President of the European Commission. He was appointed finance minister in prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho"s cabinet on 21 June 2011.
The rescue plan consisted of widespread tax increases and reforms aimed at better efficiency and rationalized resource allocation in the public sector, in order to reduce the number of unnecessary civil servants and the public sector"s chronic overcapacity.
As time went on it became increasingly clear that a series of supplementary measures would be taken during the course of the year as a means to restrain an out-of-control budget deficit. These included sharp cuts in spending on state-run healthcare, education and social security systems, along with widespread tax hikes.
On 18 October 2011 Gaspar told Portugal"s main television channel RTP1 that the wage cuts imposed on civil servants the previous week in the presentation of the State Budget for 2012 were the only way to avoid a much more painful and complex policy of mass firing of civil servants. On 1 July 2013, he resigned and was replaced by Maria Luís Albuquerque, who had been treasury secretary under him.
lieutenant was reported that he had tried to leave office eight months earlier due to pressure of public opinion.
In his resignation letter Gaspar stated that his departure was due to the growing erosion of public support for austerity measures.