Paulo Raimundo says ‘mussels are someone who doesn’t care’ about ‘war’ over public accounts

This Thursday, the Secretary General of the PKP summed up the results of the “war” over public accounts, in which the government “finds excuses for not keeping its promises” and the PS “tries to apologize for the wrong choices” at the budget level.

“We do not need the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic, who form the majority, to justify after the government comes to power why they cannot fulfill the promises they make today. And this is what is happening,” the PKP said. leader Paulo Raimundo.

Speaking to reporters in Beja, on the sidelines of his visit to the Ovibeje agricultural fair this evening, the Communist general secretary said the government was “finding excuses for not delivering on what it promised to various sectors, or at least dragging its feet on the proposals it has made as as long as possible.”

And at the same time, “we have the Socialist Party trying to apologize for the wrong choices it made from a budgetary point of view,” he compared.

“In short, this so-called war is nothing more than that, some apologize for the mistakes they made, while others create conditions to justify why they do not fulfill what they promised,” he stressed.

And, he continued, “in the midst of all this, mussels, farmers and agriculture don’t care.”

This Thursday, the Finance Minister estimated the deficit recorded until the end of the first quarter of this year at approximately 600 million euros and accused the previous government of increasing spending after the last legislative elections.

“The budget situation is much worse than what the previous government announced,” said Joaquim Miranda Sarmento following a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The Minister indicated that to the €300 million deficit recorded in the latest budget performance report, it is important to add another €300 million as a result of increased debts to suppliers.

According to the head of the finance department, part of the increase in spending occurred after the early legislative elections on March 10.

Miranda Sarmento also added that the current leader is conducting an “exhaustive study” of the 108 resolutions approved by the Council of Ministers after the resignation of Antonio Costa on November 7.

“I can already commit three significant sums that were promised without budget restrictions: 100 million euros to support farmers in the fight against drought in the Algarve and Alentejo; 127 million euros for the purchase of vaccines against Covid-19; and 200 million euros for the restoration of the school park,” he added.

Also this Thursday, in statements to journalists following Miranda Sarmento’s statements, former Finance Minister Fernando Medina (PS) rejected the idea that Portugal poses a fiscal problem.

And he argued that budget performance reflects changes in income taxes and emergency spending, remembering that it does not include balances transferred between the state and Social Security.

“The values ​​of public accounting are very easy to explain. First, they are the result of a true, effective tax reduction policy that the PS government has registered,” said Fernando Medina.

The former government official also explained that the rise in pension costs up to March this year was higher than last year, and pointed to the impact of a number of extraordinary costs, such as those associated with tariff shortfalls, government litigation or support. 100 million euros for farmers due to drought.