Sporty Audis too racy a prize for Portugal’s Socialists

Sporty Audi cars used as a lure to get Portuguese consumers to ask for a receipt in shops will soon be replaced by government bonds, the new Socialist government said Thursday.

Like several other countries, Portugal in 2014 introduced a receipt lottery to discourage tax evasion by retail businesses, with a lucky consumer winning a luxury Audi each week.

But now the government has said a car “is not an appropriate prize”, adding that government bonds “encourage families to save” and finance the Portuguese state.

From April winners will be awarded government bonds with a face value of 40,000 euros.

Despite exiting an international bailout in 2014, Portugal’s economy has only slowly recovered from the eurozone crisis and its debt remains high at 130 percent of annual economic output.