191 million euros: deficit to be cut before the end of the year
The government has just four months to cut 191 million euros from deficit in order to comply with the 2.5% goal set by the European commissioners.
The number was brought out by the Budget Technical Support Unit (UTAO – created in the Portuguese Republic Parliamentary Resolution no. 53/2006) that analyzed the data revealed by the Directorate-General for the Budget, distributed on October 4th to the deputies of the Committee on Budget and Finance.
Up until August, the minister of Finance, Mário Centeno, was able to cut down budget deficit by 539 million euros in national accounts, the ones viewed upon by Brussels as the most important, as explained by the Parliament’s experts in public finance. These numbers relate to the goal of 730 million set for the end of the year, in order to meet the 2.5% objective set by the European Commission.
The minister of Finance may fail, due to salary costs, to oblige to one of the promises on the account of which the sanctions were forgiven. Even so, this goal is significantly softened, because Centeno’s challenge would be much greater if the initial goal in the State Budget were to be maintained – 2.2%, meaning 700 million euros cut in deficit.
