José Sena Goulão / LUSA
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, upon arrival to discuss the Government program
Prime Minister again criticizes PS and Chega. And he assures that, at the end of this year, Portugal will not record a deficit.
The Prime Minister accused the previous Government of having approved resolutions “without budgetary implications” and assured that, despite the deficit in the first quarter, “the Government will manage the situation”.
“It’s true, the Portugal’s financial situation is not exactly what has been rumored in recent months. It is true that, at the end of the 1st quarter of this year, we have a deficit in public accounts, but I guarantee you that we will not have one at the end of the year”, said Luís Montenegro, during the 175th anniversary of the Portuguese Business Association (AEP), in Matosinhos.
Regarding public accounts, the prime minister accused the previous socialist government of having taken decisions “of very hastily.”
“It is true that the government that preceded this one took several decisions, including 116 resolutions from the Council of Ministers, 43 of which had no budgetary allocation, in a volume of around 1,200 million euros, that is all true, but I am also not going to dramatize the situation, I will not hide it, because it is my intention not to hide anything, but I won’t say I’m scared“, he said.
To the various businesspeople gathered at the Leixões Terminal, Luís Montenegro assured that the Government “will manage the situation”, despite the unpredictability of the Assembly of the Republic. And he assured that, at the end of 2024, Portugal will not have a deficit.
In the same speech, he once again left criticism of PS and Chegawhich allowed Parliament to approve socialist proposals on IRS and tolls.
He said that, in recent weeks, “something a little bit happened unpredictable, not to say strange”.
And he justified: “It is true that we have a party to our right in parliament that has significant representation in the AR and that ran an electoral campaign promising to fight socialism and now approves things in parliament promoted by the Socialist Party. And we have a party to our left, which is the Socialist Party, which made a campaign to demonize this party on the right and now accepts the votes of that party in parliament, this is all true”, he said.
Although “all of this is true”, the Prime Minister argued that this “is not the most important thing”, but rather that “the Government is active”.
“The Government is fulfilling its program, it will fulfill its program, has all the conditions to fulfill its program and it is not these small things that will hinder us, they exist, they cannot be ignored, but they are not the most important thing”, he stated, ensuring that the Government “has all the conditions to proceed with the legislature for four and a half years”.
Praising the 175 years of AEP, Montenegro also highlighted the need for the country to take advantage of community funds, especially the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), arguing that the country should not have “once again a lost opportunity”.
Also present at the commemorative dinner, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, highlighted the role of AEP and presented the insignia of honorary member of the Military Order of Christ, a “historic title” in keeping with the history of the association.
