The President of the Republic defended on Thursday that the state budget for 2023 must be flexible and predicted that the implementation will be more difficult than that of previous budgets, taking into account the unpredictability of the situation.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to journalists in the former royal arena, next to the Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon, at the end of a meeting with Portuguese ‘startups’, after the general approval of the 2023 state budget proposal with votes in favor of the PS bank and abstentions of the sole deputies from PAN and Livre.
When asked what he expects from the budget discussion process in the specialty, the head of state replied that “probably Parliament’s concern will be to have a budget flexible enough to monitor an unpredictable situation”.
“The more flexible, the better to keep up with the unpredictability of the situation”defended.
“It also means that at any time the government will be called upon – in January, in February, in March, the time when the situation we are in continues – to evaluate the implementation of the budget. Budget, because a war with the consequences of this is more unpredictable than the pandemic itself,” he said.
Asked if he agrees that the Finance Minister, Fernando Medina, has drafted a budget proposal “with room for manoeuvre”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said: “I think this is happening all over Europe. Budgets should be budgets with room for maneuver, very tight budgets can be overtaken by circumstances”.
“More flexible budgets are budgets that can either predict a longer war or a shorter war, longer inflation or shorter inflation, lower inflation significantly or lower inflation slowly, sustained growth or not,” he continued.
“So a flexible budget is a prudent budget for unpredictable weather”strengthens.
Regarding the response that the government should give to the rise in interest on housing loans, the head of state argued that in the current context of war in Ukraine “each phase requires a different treatment” and “it is necessary to follow what is happening happens to and step”.
The President of the Republic said this has led to a “permanent review” of the measures in a European context.
“This will also happen in Portugal, the government will have to go with the 2022 budget until the end of the year and apply the 2023 budget, looking at the concrete situation week by week, month by month. he insisted.
Source: DN
