The Madeira Government (PSD) presented to the regional parliament this Monday the 2024 budget proposals amounting to 2.195 million euros and an investment plan with a budget of 878 million euros, the Minister of Finance announced.
“This is a document that is officially presented here to the Assembly, to the government. [Regional] “It means what it promised: once the government programme is approved, we will present the budget proposal and the investment plan as quickly as possible,” Rogerio Gouveia stressed, speaking to journalists after presenting the two documents to the President of the Madeiran Parliament, José Manuel Rodrigues, in Funchal.
At the beginning of January, the Madeira government presented budget proposals for this year, worth 2.238 million euros, as well as the Plan and Programme of Investments and Expenditures for the Development of the Administration of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (PIDDAR) for 2024, worth 975 million euros, but the documents were not discussed following the resignation of the president of the regional executive, Miguel Albuquerque, who was named as a defendant in the investigation into suspicions of corruption.
Today, when asked about the lower value of these new proposals than expected in January, Rogerio Gouveia justified it by the fact that the region has been in the twelfth regime for the past few months, which “naturally has an impact on the cost of the budget.”
“Because from the very beginning, the expectations for the absorption of funds from public funds, namely Madeira 20-30, were lower, which had projects that in January we expected to be implemented, and now that we are in July, unfortunately, such absorption of funds has already happened, this will not happen in 2024,” added the archipelago’s finance minister.
Rogerio Gouveia stated that the draft regional budget “is absolutely responsible, in line with the commitments of the Government Programme, which already includes some measures that were already included in the Programme approved last week, but which does not go without ensuring the sustainability of public finances and does not exclude new tax cuts, which will also come into force in 2024.”
Asked how many opposition measures were included in the draft regional budget, which will be discussed in the Legislative Assembly from July 17 to 19, a government official said there were “several,” listing “an increase in the regional allowance for senior citizens, the creation of an office for integrity and corruption prevention, and an external audit of the region’s reporting.”
Regarding the proposals of the JPP and PS, Rogerio Gouveia said that they were not included by the leader of the minority PSD because both parties “did not have the opportunity or the desire to sit down at the negotiating table with the regional government.”
At the end of January, following a judicial investigation into allegations of corruption, Madeiran Government President Miguel Albuquerque was named as a defendant and resigned from his post a few days later.
To resolve the political crisis, early regional elections were held on 26 May, with 19 members of the SDP, 11 from the PS, nine from the AKP, four from Čegi, two from the SDS-NP, one from the IL and one from the PAN entering the regional Legislative Assembly. The SDP’s only parliamentary agreement was with the SDS-NP, which was still not enough for an absolute majority.
The proposals for the budget, plan and programme of investments and expenditure for the development of the Autonomous Region of Madeira for 2024 will be publicly presented at 6:00 pm this Monday in the main hall of the Regional Government in Funchal.
In 2023, Madeira’s budget was €2,071 million and PIDDAR’s was €775 million.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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