There was more than 11 billion euros in the state budget to respond to the “negative impact of the pandemic” on businesses and employment, but the government (Ministry of Economy) will have released or implemented only 84% of the total aid cake By the end of 2021, the Court of Auditors (TdC) speaks of a new audit.
During the period under investigation, the guardianship of Economics belonged to the minister Pedro Siza Vieira🇧🇷 However, he was succeeded in April of this year by António Costa Silva.
That is, it is the same as saying that there was more than €1.8 billion left to spend or implement, says the TdC in an audit of the measures announced and implemented (some of which, in any case, did not happen) in 2020 and 2021 to fight against the consequences of covid-19, which paralyzed or stopped many economic activities.
In the study released this Thursday, the Court assesses “whether the response to the negative impacts of the pandemic was sufficient to ensure the recovery of the economy, by examining the effectiveness of the 24 measures identified by the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition for the It’s Made”.
The conclusion is not very favorable to the government, what happened in 2020 and 2021.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs identified 24 extraordinary measures taken in response to the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy (RIAPE) and designated five entities as managers of 22 of these measures: Managing Authority of the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (10 measures), Instituto do Turismo de Portugal (4), IAPMEI – Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (4), Banco Português de Fomento (3) and TF – Turismo Fundos (1)”.
“However, 13 of these measures and the two without a control entity were not financially implemented until December 31, 2021, despite the fact that 16 of the 24 measures are included in the Economic and Social Stabilization Program (PEES) in effect until the end of 2020” , indicate the jurors. As a result, 15 of the 24 corporate fabric support measures in the context of the pandemic did not go ahead as planned.
“Furthermore, the information provided on these measures was neither complete nor sufficient, as they did not promote public accountability, transparency and scrutiny regarding their effectiveness in achieving their objectives and recovering from the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy. ” the study.
“In total, 11,008 million euros were reported to the audit [em gastos] with nine of the 24 RIAPE measures, until 31/12/2021, 9,091 million euros in contingent liabilities (credit granted by the financial system, with government guarantee), 1,409 million euros in expenses, 200 million euros in deferred income, 185 million euros in loans, 104 million euros in prepaid expenses and 20 million euros in leasing”.
Taking into account that this package of 24 measures is a response to a serious and emergency situation, the estimated implementation of 84% (until the end of 2021) of the budgeted amount is “insufficient” according to the Court.
“In addition to the insufficient financial implementation of the measures (84% of the estimated value), only seven had a defined target and only one achieved it,” say the auditors.
Missing information report
And more: “15 measures did not show results and the effectiveness of the measures in achieving their objectives was not demonstrated, nor in restoring the initial situation (15 due to lack of implementation, nine because their indicators failed to measure the achievement of their objectives were not measured) and 23 because the initial situation was not reported).
As always, the Court questioned the government about the problems identified and the values established during the investigation.
In contradiction, the ministry claimed that “in determining public policy during the pandemic, the decision-making process has taken place in conditions of great uncertainty, complexity and rapid change”, difficulties which the Court naturally acknowledges.
However, the TdC insists that the government (in this case the Ministry) should “reduce the risks materialized by incompleteness and insufficiency of the information reported, insufficiency of the degree of implementation and ineffectiveness of the measures to achieve their goal “. objectives, as well as other significant risks identified, which already include the negative impact of the duration and extent of the military conflict in Ukraine”.
The only measures with full or higher execution were three. The Treasury Support Line for micro and small tourism companies (€160 million) was 100% implemented.
The measure Stimulating New Industrial Spaces (220 million euros) has been implemented for 99%.
Of the budget for credit lines with government guarantee (10.7 billion euros), 85% of the allocation was spent on government guarantees.
Examples of government zero enforcement and advocacy
Taking into account the figures compiled by the Court of Auditors, the rest of the panorama is somewhat gloomy. However, the government defends itself by claiming that it has used money through other legal frameworks, for example.
The TIVAC measure (Tourism: Congressional VAT), budgeted at six million euros, had 0% implementation.
Here the ministry claims “that it has not been implemented due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic on activities open to the public”, but Turismo de Portugal “claims that the measure has been implemented by Decree-Law 54/2020 of August 11, in terms of which the benefit granted to companies, for VAT refund”.
The PROATP measure (Plan for the resumption of the air operation of Turismo de Portugal), worth 10 million euros, also appears without implementation.
The ministry explains that “it was carried out through the VIP program (support of promotional campaigns related to the launch of air routes)”.
The Measure to Support the Organization of Events had 20 million euros and is another one that appears without implementation.
The Ministry of Economy once again claims that “due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic on activities open to the public, the measure is being implemented” through the “Support program for the organization of events of tourist interest called Portugal Events”.
The planned allocation of EUR 80 million for “Strengthening the local production capacity of innovative and strategic equipment” also amounts to zero in implementation. Here the problem is the notification or lack thereof.
It seems that money was spent on this measure, but “the result reported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs is not included” in the information sent. In other words, “the repeated omissions in this report are yet another example of inadequate information to the audit”, the Court deplores.
Adapter 2 support (adaptation and modernization of commercial sites) was announced, worth €50 million, recording 0% implementation. Before the Court, the government argued that “it was not implemented because the Adapt [versão 1] has not exhausted the budgeted allocation and because equivalent programs of the “Apoiar family” with greater financial support capacity have been approved”.
According to the judges, “the measure was designed to accelerate the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), so given what was reported, it proved useless to achieve its goal, until the end of 2021”.
Luís Reis Ribeiro is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
