The Finance Minister said on Friday that he continues to defend the increase in the Single Circulation Tax (IUC), but that he “of course” understands its abolition by socialist deputies as the legislature will be interrupted.
On the sidelines of an insurance conference in Lisbon, Fernando Medina was questioned by journalists about the proposed amendment to the 2024 state budget, made by the PS parliamentary group, which reverses the increase in the IUC.
Fernando Medina responded that the government’s position on the IUC is “very clear” – defending this increase for vehicles from 2007 and previous years with a brake limiting the increase to 25 euros per year – but that at the current political moment , marking early elections, understands this change “naturally” because there will no longer be a government with an absolute majority in office until the end of the parliamentary term.
“I understand the reasons. When we presented the proposal, we presented a proposal for a government with an absolute majority that would last until the end of the parliamentary term. From the moment there will be elections, when there are different opinions about the continuity of this policy, I understand the position of the group”Medina said.
On Tuesday, the last day of the deadline for submitting proposed amendments to the budget, the PS submitted one to reduce the increase in the IUC for vehicles from 2007 and previous years (inserted by the government into the state budget proposal for 2024), arguing that it is “a matter of social justice and protection of citizens with greater economic vulnerability”.
In the proposal, the Socialists state that “the light vehicle is still in many cases the main way to travel to work or to the nearest public transport, especially outside the country’s main cities and in middle and low-income areas. where the supply of public transport is limited and not suitable for daily mobility needs.
“In these cases, where a car is an absolute necessity, there is also the fact that many citizens do not have the financial resources to replace it with a more recent vehicle. Therefore, it is considered important for reasons of social justice and protection of the most economically vulnerable citizens, please correct the OE proposal in this sense”reads the proposal.
The leader of the Socialist Bank, Eurico Brilhante Dias, said at a press conference about the proposals of the PS parliamentary group for changes to the state budget for 2024, a document for which a final global vote is scheduled for the next 29th, which has already been held since the beginning existed. among the majority of deputies on his bench, there was an intention to amend the government’s initial proposal on the IUC, as this had created a “perception of social injustice” among many citizens.
Regarding the news from Expresso that the reversal of salary cuts at TAP may be in jeopardy, as the end of the temporary emergency agreement that allowed ending the reduction in employee salaries has still not received a ‘green light’ from Finances, Medina said. what happens is that the “documents arrived at the Ministry of Finance very few weeks ago” (sent by the company’s management) and therefore “are still being analyzed”.
Source: DN
