The President of the Republic said this Wednesday that the strategy pursued by the government in the state budget proposal for 2024 is “perhaps the only possible”, concentrating on domestic consumption, given the external economic downturn.
“This is an expected budget because it does not expect to increase exports, does not expect to increase significant investment, private investment, does not expect to increase growth,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Souza. journalists at the entrance to the initiative at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon.
According to the head of state, what the government is doing in the state budget for 2024 is “injecting money, trying to increase so-called domestic demand, domestic spending, to balance what is no longer coming from abroad.”
When asked whether this was the right strategy, he replied that “perhaps the only thing possible” in the current situation is “to return to something that is not ideal, but that allows us to cope with domestic consumption.”
The President of the Republic stated that “the government is counting on a huge tax burden for the next year, that is, counting on large tax revenues,” since, taking into account “the evolution of recent years, it expects more tax revenues to come in for the year.”
“No one simply knows whether it will be true or not and to what extent it will be true,” he warned.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the proposal presented by the government on Tuesday “is clearly a budget that injects money, goes further than previous ones, but always on one foot due to the international situation.”
Continuing the topic of taxes, the head of state said that “for the first time under the current leadership, bolder steps are being taken in terms of tax levels – but also defensively, that is, with caution so as not to take on too much risk.”
In the macroeconomic scenario on which the budget proposal is based, the government forecasts that gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 2.2% in 2023 and 1.5% in 2024, with inflation falling to 5.3% this year and 3.3%. in 2024.
The executive, led by António Costa, aims to achieve a budget surplus of 0.8% of GDP in 2023 and 0.2% in 2024. As for the public debt ratio, he estimates it will decline to 103% of GDP this year and to 98.9% in 2024. .
The 2024 state budget proposal will be discussed and voted on as a whole on October 30 and 31. The final global vote is scheduled for November 29.
The state budget is guaranteed to be approved by the parliamentary majority of the PS.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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