Lisbon councillor dubs PRR funding “a hell”
After all the high expectations, it appears the Recovery and Resilience funding (PRR) from Brussels has not been the “bazooka” to kick start the economy that it was supposed to be.
A report in Correio da Manhã this morning claims only a quarter of the value of funding handed over to Portugal so far has been paid to beneficiaries.
In simple terms, this means that €5.6 billion has been paid out, when the country has €22 billion supposedly at its disposal.
“The greatest discrepancy is in the amounts paid to municipalities and metropolitan areas that received €589 million of the €3.4 billion in approved projects, or 17% of the total”, says the paper.
As to the different types of investments, the most advanced (in terms of receipt of funding) are Escola Digital (48%), those related to the Sea (38%) and Innovation (34%).
When it comes to Water Management, the State health Service and Sustainable Mobility, things slide somewhat, with the former receiving just 13%, and the SNS and Sustainable Mobility 16%.
As CM reiterates, Portugal has until 2026 to implement its PRR investments. Time is moving along very quickly.
“To accelerate the application of funds, the government has decided to dispense with obligatory revision of projects”, says the paper.
Meantime, councillors in Almada and Lisbon have said that in some cases the PRR “has been a curse” – far from the boon initially painted.
The ‘curse’ comment came from Almada mayor Inês de Medeiros. It is shared, says CM, by the Lisbon councillor for Housing, Filipa Roseta, who has described the PRR as “a hell”, part of which, in her opinion, “has failed”.
