PS will request an urgent hearing from Miranda Sarmento to explain budget statements

The PS will demand urgent parliamentary hearings of Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento to explain his statements regarding the implementation of the budget, given that the Socialists have questioned the external authority of the country.

An official source in the PS parliamentary group told Lusa that a hearing by the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee would be requested as a matter of urgency.

The socialists’ goal, according to the same source, is for Miranda Sarmento to “clarify once and for all her statements regarding the implementation of the budget.”

“These statements call into question the external authority of the country, which took so much effort to restore, and this is unacceptable,” the same official source said.

On Tuesday, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento estimated the previous government’s total spending at the beginning of the year at 2.5 billion euros, which was not included in the state budget for 2024 (OE2024).

Speaking at the annual conference of the Specialized Associations of Credit (ASFAC), Joaquim Miranda Sarmento criticized the previous executive director (PS) for the expenses approved at the beginning of the year, some of which were carried out after the legislative elections on March 10, which dictated the victory of the AD coalition ( SDS/CDS-PP/PPM).

“We are talking about 2.5 billion euros, which were not in the document approved by the Assembly of the Republic in the state budget,” he said.

The official said the previous government approved emergency spending of 1.080 million euros, of which 960 million euros after the March 10 legislative elections.

Miranda Sarmento reiterated that the budget situation found by the current superintendent “is different from what was announced.”