“Today a narrative began to spread that the Portuguese State has full coffers”, said this Tuesday, in a video shared on Instagram, the former president of the Liberal Initiative, Carlos Guimarães Pinto, regarding the information revealed by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) whose data show a budget surplus of 3.2 billion of euros in the last year.
“Obviously, having a surplus is good, but the Portuguese State is a long way from having its coffers full. To understand, we would need 16 years equal to 2023 just to cover the deficits of the last three years of the Sócrates Government”, added the liberal deputy.
But would it be confirm this latest information provided by Carlos Guimarães Pinto?
The socialist José Sócrates governed between March 12, 2005 and June 20, 2011. Considering the last three years of his Executive – from 2009 to 2011 – a total deficit of 51.3 billion of euros (17.3 billion euros in 2009, 20.5 billion euros in 2010 and 13.5 billion euros in 2011), according to data available on the Pordata website.
In the hypothetical scenario presented by deputy Carlos Guimarães Pinto – 16 years with a budget surplus equal to that of 2023, of 3.2 billion euros –, the value would amount to 51.2 billion of euros. This confirms the liberal’s thesis that “it would take 16 years equal to 2023 just to cover the deficits of the last three years of the Sócrates Government”.
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Polygraph Assessment:
Tags: Budget surplus years equal cover deficits years Socrates Government
