Finance Minister Fernando Medina guaranteed in parliament on Tuesday that the ministry he oversees does not pose an obstacle to the implementation of public investments, arguing that it is an element of support and encouragement.
Fernando Medina, during a parliamentary hearing at the Budget and Financial Committee (COF) in the context of the State Budget for 2024 (OE2024), responded to criticism from PSD deputy Duarte Pacheco on public services, namely the SNS.
“I can guarantee that in terms of my responsibility, which also consists of supporting the availability of funds for the different sectoral areas to implement investment projects, the Ministry of Finance today is not an obstacle to the implementation of public investments. ” he claimed.
According to Fernando Medina, the Ministry of Finance is “on the contrary, an element of support and incentive for investments”.
The government official acknowledged that “it is undeniable that the SNS presents challenges” and “problems of great importance” but argued that “several of them are common to several European countries based on national healthcare services with a similar basic structure” as Portugal .
“I’m not devaluing this, I’m positioning these challenges,” he said, adding that “the SNS serves more people” and “more people with the same or better quality that it served.”
The President of the Republic announced last week that he will dissolve the Assembly of the Republic and called early elections for March 10, 2024, following the resignation of the Prime Minister, António Costa.
However, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will postpone the publication of the dissolution decree until January, allowing the final global vote on OE2024, scheduled for November 29, and the entry into force of the document.
In this way, hearings on the budget proposal have continued to take place, both by ministers and by entities such as the Public Finance Council.
Source: DN
