Government estimates deficit of around 600 million by the end of the first quarter

In the intervention, Miranda Sarmento stated that there was “knowledge that the previous Government had left public services and the State machinery in a very difficult situation”What a “he tried to convey the idea to the country that there was a counterpoint to the fact that public accounts were doing quite well.”

“Now, that’s not the reality we’re faced with.”According to the Minister of Finance, some of the expenditure increases seen were made after the early legislative elections on March 10th.

According to the most recent data from the Directorate-General for the Budget (DGO), the State went from a surplus of 1,177 million euros to a deficit of 259 million euros by March, which has not been seen since December 2022. For This evolution resulted in a decrease in revenue (7.4 percent) and an increase in expenditure (15.1 percent).

Until March 31, said Miranda Sarmento, the previous Executive “committed a substantial part of the Ministry of Finance’s reserves”.

The Ministry of Finance has, explained the minister, two “large reserves” that are normally used “from the summer onwards, to cover unexpected situations or expenses that were not foreseen”.

One of them had “an allocation of 500 million euros” and at the moment “there is only 260 million available”. In other words, “around half of this reserve was spent in the first quarter”.

Furthermore, the previous Government approved exceptional expenses of 1,080 million euros, “of which 950 million already after March 10th, after the elections”.

The PS Executive also approved 108 resolutions after António Costa’s resignation, Miranda Sarmento pointed out. Resolutions that, he highlighted, “do not fit in the State Budget”. The Government will also evaluate and decide in the coming months whether it will be necessary to present an Amending Budget, depending on the information it learns “in the near future”.The Minister of Finance clarified that the possibility of an amending budget was not discussed at this Thursday’s meeting, focusing on the budget situation as of March 31st.

“We did not discuss the issue of the Amending Budget. It will be the subject of evaluation and decision in the coming months depending on what may be the impact of many things, which we do not yet know, but will come to know in the near future and may or may not require this instrument”, he said.

Government doubles IRS consignment limit to 1%

The Government approved in the Council of Ministers the increase in the IRS consignment limit from 0.5 to 1 percent for “public utility” entities, to come into force in next year’s campaign, announced the Minister of the Presidency.

“The Government took several decisions”announced António Leitão Amaro.

“First: double the IRS allocation from 0.5 to 1 percent. Consignment through which the Portuguese can choose between handing over part of the taxes they pay and the proceeds of their work to public benefit institutions”.

This duplication of the consignment, he added, is valid from this year’s income, that is, “from the IRS settlement campaign that takes place next year”.

With this, “the Portuguese will be able to deliver more to companies that they believe provide an important service to the community” and can “strengthen support” for these “public utility” institutions.

The second decision of this Council of Ministers was to promote “a reinforcement of the criminal protection framework for aggressions and offenses against a group of public professionals”.

These entities include hundreds of associations and academies dedicated to various purposes, recreational bands, people’s houses, various social, day, parish, children’s or community centers, foundations, cooperatives, choirs, charities or philharmonic and musical societies.

This allocation does not cost the taxpayer anything nor does it mean a reduction in the refund, since the amount is taken from the tax that is handed over to the State.

The Government also approved in the Council of Ministers the extension of the reimbursement period for Portugal 2020, with the aim of avoiding the loss of European funds.

“The Government decided to approve a decree-law that extends the reimbursement period for PT2020”announced the Minister of the Presidency.

The government official defended that with this measure he intends to “avoid loss of European funds”. PT2020 reached 99.6 percent execution and 112 percent commitment by the end of February, according to the program’s latest data. In turn, the achievement rate stood at 89 percent.

“As you know, several instruments – from PT2020, the Recovery and Resilience Plan, PT2030 – are delayed. They are further behind than the country was aware of”, he said.

The decree-law approved by the Government thus extends the reimbursement period for the purposes of eligibility for expenses related to European funds.

PT2020 consists of a partnership agreement between Portugal and the European Commission, “in which the principles and programming priorities for Portugal’s economic, social and territorial development policy are established, between 2014 and 2020”. PT2020 beneficiaries have already received 26,400 million euros, which corresponds to 98 percent of the programmed funds.