The economic scene in Goa, 1926-61

Abstract

In 1926, the eminent dictator Dr. Antonio de Oliveira Salazar became the all powerful finance minister of Portugal, after a revolution overthrowing the 16-year old parliamentary democracy. The regime in its initial decades was marked by political and economic stability in Portugal and the Overseas Provinces but at the cost of a hard suppression of political liberties and aspirations. In 1930, the 'Colonial Act' (Acto Colonial) a Constitutional document reduced parliamentarism in the colonies. In Goa, the damage was partly undone by the subsequent Estatiito do Estado da India (1955) under which Portuguese India (Goa) was granted the status of a State within Portugal. But it made little difference to the situation in Goa . The Second World War (1939-45) and the total economic blockade by the Indian Union (1954-61) also had a marked effect on the Goan economy. This chapter has been divided into sections to facilitate discussion, namely : (1) Agriculture, (2) Industry, (3) Tertiary sector, (4) Government Revenue and Expenditure, (5) Emigration, (6) The Port and Railways, (7) Impact of the war on the Goan economy.