Parliament today will begin the task of ‘debating’ the government’s proposed State Budget for next year, with the document’s general approval guaranteed, due to PS Socialists’ decision to abstain.
More left-wing parties are either ‘voting against’ (Bloco de Esquerda/ PCP communists), abstaining (PAN) or hedging their bets (Iniciativa Liberal*).
CHEGA’s intentions are unknown, but – similarly to other parties – the party has a host of ‘additional proposals’ that it hopes to see ultimately included.
The trouble with this scenario is that the government has repeatedly said it has very little margin for manoeuvre, without (further) prejudicing public accounts – and last week, the Public Finance Council (CFP) raised doubts about the sustainability and achievement of the 0.1% surplus forecast by the government, warning that this is supported by ‘one-off measures and extraordinary revenues’.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro retorted that the government he leads ‘cannot be accused of a lack of credibility in financial matters’ and pointed out that, on several occasions, it has faced ‘pessimism and disbelief from national and international entities’.
As it is, the budget has left out the more ‘contentious areas’, like health, labour, pensions and social protection.
Today’s debate begins at 3pm and will continue on into tomorrow. Media outlets continue to stress, ‘nothing can be taken for granted’: the document will most definitely ‘pass’ to the ‘specialised debate’ stage, but no one can predict beyond that.
*Hours before debate began, IL revealed its intentions: it will be voting against, suggesting very much like left-wingers, that the budget is “unambitious” and “greedy for the state”.
Source: Correio da Manhã/ SIC/ Antena 1
