In his 20-minute speech, the prime minister defended the government’s budget proposal, saying it is “continuing the change that began in 2016, ensuring more growth, better jobs, greater equality, with the right accounts”.
António Costa said it is a “progress” budget that responds to “four major strategic challenges of the new legislature: climate change, demography, digital transition, inequalities”.
“With this budget there are no setbacks. We do not keep pace, nor change course. With this Budget we continue to make progress on improving income and rights, the quality of public services, strengthening investment, consolidating public finances.“, he maintained.
The budget document promotes, in the prime minister’s view, “more investment, the quality of public services, improved incomes and ever greater social justice and enables us to pursue the path of budget balance and debt reduction” .
“Promoting investment – public and private – is key to enhancing sustained and shared economic growth, the creation of more and better jobs and the quality of our public services. Economic growth over the last four years is associated with strong investment growth. , more than double the euro area average, “he added.
Budget surplus
António Costa stressed in the initial intervention that this is the first budget of democracy with budget surplus. “This is the result of the consolidation path pursued in the previous legislature and is also an essential condition for us to pursue our shared prosperity strategy,” he said.
Not to mention the left-wing forces – which have already indicated that they will abstain from voting in general – the prime minister explained: “Some wonder about the need for the budget surplus when there are so many needs to be met right now. The budget cannot ignore that other need, which is to sustainably release ourselves from the high public debt we still have.”.
The head of government complemented the argument with figures: “Over the last legislature, the debt burden of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has fallen by more than 12 percentage points from 131.2% in 2015 to 118.9% in 2019. And it is our goal to end this legislature close to the 100% threshold. This is the only way we will free up debt resources every year. “ said.
“It is at this stage of economic growth that the country must save the resources it may need when a new economic cycle requires an anti-cyclical policy,” he said.
“There is even more life beyond the budget”
Still speaking to the left, the prime minister explained that these goals do not start from external impositions. “No, it is not about the European Union’s impositions. It is our duty to prepare the future and ensure that the Portuguese do not have to bear the cost of an economic crisis that left deep marks on everyone’s lives. those who have been out of work, who have seen their income cut or who have seen the much-needed social protection limited “, said.
“It is a matter of looking at our Social Security and seeing that for the first time we have a financial reserve of over EUR 20 billion and that we guarantee the sustainability of our pension system for another 29 years, compared to the projected budget. of the State of 2015, “he added.
Still on the need to meet objectives, the prime minister argued that “budgetary rigor gives freedom, because a budget should never be an end in itself.”
“There is even more life beyond the budget. That is why health is the budget’s top priority. It is the largest ever reinforcement in the initial health budget and represents the beginning of a new cycle for the National Health Service.”, stressed.
Government available for dialogue
The Prime Minister said he was available to discuss and make changes to the State Budget on a specialty basis. “The clear electoral reinforcement of the PS does not relieve the Government of its duty to promote parliamentary dialogue and stability within the legislature”he stressed.
“It is very important that we all understand that this is only the first budget of the new legislature. It is the beginning – not the end – of a new cycle. It is the beginning of a new four-year path along which we will make new progress. and we will make further progress, “he said.
“The Government has fulfilled its obligation and willingness to open dialogue with the parliamentary partners, with which it wants to continue to build the solution of political stability and social development that Portugal enjoys so much. (…) In drafting the proposed budget, we adopted a posture of dialogue and seeking compromise, meeting the priorities and claims expressed by our parliamentary partners, “he said.
Still, the prime minister argued that this “is a good budget” and “a good starting point for a legislature that will be characterized by safe new steps in our path of development and prosperity.”
“This is a budget that continues and deepens the path taken since 2016, supporting people and families, encouraging economic and employment growth, promoting investment, qualifying public services, reducing inequalities, favoring knowledge, education. and Culture. This Budget does not contain any kind of retrogression in any area, “he defended, indirectly appealing to the” Geringonça “parties for “deepening the path taken since 2016; with the parliamentary partners who have been following this path”.
“Where is the 580 million euros?”
Rui Rio was the first deputy to speak after Antonio Costa’s initial intervention. Ironically, the Prime Minister even thanked him for his presence: “Thank you for taking the time for this debate with your busy life these days,” in reference to Saturday’s direct elections for the leadership of the Social Democrats.
In his speech, the PSD president and parliamentary leader criticized the budget he considers to have “the highest tax burden” and stressed that middle-class Portuguese “have been working for the state for half a year.”
“In your opinion, in Portugal is the tax burden too high or not, in Portugal we have to do a tax reduction or not?”, Asked the prime minister.
Rio also raised doubts about the transparency of the document. “You have to realize, not where Wally is, but where is the 590 million euros?”, He asked.
The PSD president again pointed to a € 590 million discrepancy between two State Budget officials on the balance in public accounting.
Without answering the question directly, António Costa said that the question revealed more the difficulty of the PSD than that of the Government.
“In a state budget where the total expenditure is 96.918 million euros, your concern being with 0.6 percent of this expenditure says all about the difficulty of criticism”, criticized.
About the tax burden, Costa responded with the reduction of corporate income tax, which lowers 60 million euros with this Budget, and the household income tax, by 60 million euros.
“If you ask me if I want to revert, no, I don’t want to. I don’t want to lower income or increase unemployment, ”said the prime minister.
Rui Rio has already announced that the PSD will vote against the state budget proposal in general, and it is still unclear what will be the vote of the three Madeiran parliamentarians of the party in the Assembly of the Republic.
“Magical thinking”
Still responding to Rui Rio’s criticism, the prime minister accused the Social Democratic leader of having “a magical thinking” on budget matters.
“The PSD wants more investment, wants less taxes and wants a larger budget surplus, is truly magical thinking. (…) This magical thought we have heard, was what inspired Barroso when he proposed the fiscal shock, was what Passos Coelho promised, and that simply translated into the biggest fiscal aggravation that the country had“, criticized.
Already the PS parliamentary leader, also in response to Rui Rio, said the PSD “remains in denial of what the Portuguese chose on October 6”, in which the Social Democrats had “a resounding defeat”.
Accusing the PSD of wanting the privatization and degradation of the National Health Service, Ana Catarina Mendes considered that the budget proposal “responds to one of the most glaring problems we have in Portugal, which is the state of NHS degradation as a result of the policies of the PSD and CDS”
“Minimum Guarantees”
For its part, the Left Bloc announced this morning that it would abstain from voting in the general state budget. In this afternoon’s debate, Catarina Martins criticized the Government’s position.
“The Government decided to present the State Budget proposal and give it to Parliament before negotiating and that was a mistake, because the Socialist Party has no absolute majority, which has a popular mandate to seek understandings.”He pointed out.
From the perspective of the Left Bloc’s coordinator, the Government now inevitably found itself “in need of negotiation”, but “now with less time and in more difficult conditions”.
“If this debate begins today knowing that your Budget proposal will reach the specialty, it is because you have agreed to give minimal guarantees of advances in the specialty for which the Bloc has worked and will continue to work.”she added, noting however that the government’s proposals on salaries and pensions “are insufficient to answer for those who work and worked a lifetime.”
In response, the prime minister assured that he never had doubts with who would have to negotiate. “We cannot say that we did not negotiate, we may not have agreed as we did yesterday. He’ll say it was our fault, I could reciprocate and say it was your fault. Maybe it was both. (…) There was a joint effort and this effort was immediately reflected in the initial presentation of the budget, ”he argued.
“I am sure that during the next few weeks of debate in this Parliament, we will once again be able to count on the Left Bloc to improve what is already the best budget proposal I have presented to the Assembly of the Republic in these five years,” said António Costa. .
Jerónimo criticizes “submissions”
In the debate, the CFP secretary general considered that the State Budget proposal for 2020 had several shortcomings and criticized the “budgetary surplus”, accusing the Socialist Government of giving in to “impositions and submissions” from the European Union.
“You can call it a fife, but there are impositions and submission is an unavoidable reality,” he said. Jerónimo also said that he remembers “NHS waiting lists or equipment shortages and millions of resources diverted to the private health business” every time you hear about the surplus.
The prime minister assured the communists that the surplus is “not the goal” of the government and included the PCP in the group that managed to import “a historic defeat on the right.”
“We were able to prove that it was possible to have sound public finances without cutting wages and making brutal tax increases. And this is the historic defeat of the right in Portugal ”, in which the PCP“ had an important role ”, considered the prime minister.
Recovering the contributions of the contraption, António Costa defended a “restart” in the relations between the Government and the left partners. “We have to restart a cycle to continue,” he said.
Contrary to the communist secretary general, the prime minister insisted that the surplus “is the result of good budget management, growth, employment and despite the higher income paid in social benefits”.
Like the Left Block, the PCP has already announced that it will abstain on Friday from the state budget vote in general.
(in update)
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