State councilor and former PSD leader Luís Marques Mendes defended this Saturday that the country must have the “ability to spend public money” and warned that “next year will not be an easy year”: “Neither pessimism in exaggeration nor completely unrealistic optimism” , he defended in the speech he made on the second day of the XIV Congress of the Order of Official Accountants.
On the same day that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa left a “message” to the Minister of Territorial Cohesion on the implementation of the funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, Marques Mendes said he was “very” concerned that the implementation of community programs “is very late”. He described himself as a “down-to-earth optimist”, he recalled: “PRR [Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência] There will not even be one day extension of the deadline. We have to be able to spend.”
And added: “We have a unique opportunity, from now on at the end of the decade.
structural results of three programmes. These are figures we never had: 64 billion euros. On average, it amounts to just over 8 billion euros per year,” said referring to Portugal 2020, Portugal 2030 and PRR.
Luís Marques Mendes criticized the pace of decisions taken by Banco de Portugal and Banco de Fomento, saying: “Companies expect this process to go a little faster because Banco de Fomento – that extraordinary thing founded there – will make decisions in June. and at the moment are almost still on paper. I think this pace of decisions, whether at Banco de Fomento or Banco de Portugal, is not a good sign for society.”
The former PSD leader warned that “next year will not be an easy year”, especially as “inflation remains unchecked” and considered it “impossible” for inflation to rise by 4% in 2023, as foreseen in the state budget.
Luís Marques Mendes also addressed the issue of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as “it is not worth hoping for a short-term outcome”. The Secretary of State also believed thatthis war in ukraine is the west’s fault”No direct fault, but it was the West that created the political conditions in 2008 and 2014,” he explained, referring to the invasion of Georgia and the annexation of Crimea.
Finally, he left a eulogy: “Now the West is as it should be, united and determined.”
Source: DN
