“I have seen the government’s attention to the signs of the moment, which – nobody is sure – could indicate a slowdown in the recovery,” the president told journalists in São Paulo. João da Pesqueira, adding that “in other countries, namely in Germany, this seems self-evident”.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “if there is a slowdown in the recovery of major economies in Europe, it will naturally come to Portugal”, hence the focus “on the one hand on the evolution of tourism, but on the other hand, on exports”.
The budgetary measures already in force or approved will affect the budget balance by 3,124 million euros in 2024, according to the Invariant Policy Framework (QPI) that Finance handed over to parliament on Friday and consulted by Lusa on Saturday.
One of the other segments with an impact of more than one billion euros, in view of the document presented last year, concerns government interest debts (1,002 million euros).
“I see that the government is aware of what needs to be launched in terms of liquidity in the economy and this has an impact on the OE (state budget) for 2024,” said the president of the republic on a visit to Vindouro.
The head of state explained that “liquidity in the economy means that the government has a break with the PRR and a break in budget management”.
In terms of budgetary management, he praised the government for being “very judicious and taking advantage of a very good year, last year, to create that slack”.
“Sometimes the governor of the Bank of Portugal doesn’t like to talk about slack, so as not to create a feeling of ease. It means there’s a buffer here that can be used in the year 2024, if needed, in case growth doesn’t pick up at the expected pace, meaning families and businesses will face problems they hoped they no longer had.” he added.
Source: DN
