Parliament debates Stability Program today

Today, parliament debates the Stability Program for the period 2024 and 2028, presented by the Government last week and which is based on a scenario of invariant policies.

The start of the plenary debate starts at 3:00 pm, and is expected to last around 61 minutes, with 10 minutes allocated to the Government.

On April 15, the Government sent the Stability Program (PE) 2024-2028 to the Assembly of the Republic, with a macroeconomic scenario designed on a basis that only takes into account the policies designed by the previous executive and measures already planned.

The Government maintained the growth of the Portuguese economy at 1.5% this year, in line with what was projected in the State Budget for 2024 and a tenth below the macroeconomic forecasts of the Democratic Alliance (AD) in the electoral program.

It also estimated, without new measures, a budget surplus of 0.3% of GDP this year, slightly above the 0.2% recorded in the State Budget, but below the 0.8% projected in the AD program.

The Public Finance Council (CFP) announced that it did not issue an opinion on the macroeconomic scenario of the Stability Program as it is based on invariant policies, showing that it is available to carry out an analysis when new policy measures are contemplated.

The Left Bloc (BE) and the PCP presented a draft resolution to reject the Stability Program.

The BE considers that the document “is useless, outdated” and “out of date”, recommending that the executive submit to parliament within 10 days “a document clarifying its options in terms of salary priorities, fiscal policy and proposals it has for the various taxes, but also for the public service and public expenditure in light of electoral promises that have not been implemented”.

In its project, the PCP rejects the 2024-2028 Stability Program and recommends that the Government implement several measures, including a general increase in salaries in the public and private sector, by a minimum of 15% and not less than 150 euros in this year or the increase in the National Minimum Wage to 1,000 euros in 2024.

In addition to delivery to parliament, the Government will send the Stability Program during the month to the European Commission. However, this year it is mainly a calendar formality, as with the new European budgetary rules the document loses the weight it had, being replaced by medium-term budgetary and structural plans, which must be sent by Member States to Brussels in September .