Minister Pedro Duarte guarantees that the Government “is available” to give in on the Budget, but “there is a limit”
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs assured this Saturday, September 21, that the Government “is available” to “negotiate and give in” on the State Budget proposal and warned that the socialists have “increased responsibilities” in this negotiation and that “there can be no childishness.”
“There is a great predisposition from the Government to be able to reach a consensus around the Budget. For us it is very important that the country has a Budget, that the Government’s proposal is approved. We know that we do not have an absolute majority in Parliament and, therefore, , we are available, more than available, we are interested in talking, in negotiating and in giving in where we need to give in so that we can have a Budget approved”, said Pedro Duarte, in Santo Tirso, on the sidelines of a visit to that municipality in the district of Porto as president of the PSD/Porto District Political Committee.
However, he warned, there are limits: “Obviously, I think everyone also understands, when I say giving in where necessary there is a limit that is very simple, which is when we let the Government’s project have its way. It doesn’t make sense if we we stop reviewing the Budget”.
Pedro Duarte and messages to the PS
“But apart from what these structural lines are, there is a huge openness on the part of the Government so that we can listen to the other parties. What is really happening with the PS is that we do not know these proposals and, therefore, we are waiting, this is not even a criticism, but we are waiting for the PS to deliver its proposals so we can evaluate them and, as long as they are reasonable, there is, of course, full openness on the part of the Government”, he said.
Pedro Duarte, however, left a warning to the PS and the socialist leader, Pedro Nuno Santos: “I hope that there is responsibility, a sense of responsibility from the opposition, particularly from the largest opposition party. The PS has responsibility for the state in which the country, it was the Government until very recently, has the added responsibility of understanding that we are at a critical moment and there can be neither childishness nor playing with the lives of the Portuguese”.
Foreign investors may stay away from Portugal, argues minister
Asked about the consequences of the proposed State Budget, the Minister responsible for Parliamentary Affairs warned that they would be “very negative” and at a decisive time for the country: “It would be very negative, we are at a crucial moment, for example, when level of investments in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, next year is a decisive year and if we do not have the tool available it will imply more delays and we will probably lose a lot of community funds”.
“The Government has already managed to pacify the country by reaching an agreement with many professional sectors, several Public Service careers and all of this would be affected. And, also, we have the prospect of having the economy grow so that people have more money in their pockets and we can all live better”, he argued.
“The economy would be greatly affected, first of all by international investment, an investor who is thinking of bringing money into the country, if he sees that we are going to have a political crisis, a Government that does not have a tool to work with such as a Budget, will probably rethink your investment, and this would be very negative for the country”, he warned.
The minister’s statement was made after Fitch, a rating agency rating international, having improved the outlook on Portuguese debt to “positive”, equaling three of the other four agencies that evaluate Portugal, and therefore anticipating increases in valuation in the medium term.
