It’s done: the left approved the 2017 State Budget
The left has approved this Tuesday the 2017 State Budget. The document was favorably voted for by the left, and the right-wing parties voted against it.
The 2017 State Budget has been approved this Tuesday. The PS (Socialist Party), BE (Left Block), PCP (Portuguese Communist Party), PEV (Greens) and PAN (People-Animals-Nature party) voted in favor of the state budget. The right-wing parties voted against the document – meaning, the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and CDS-PP (Democratic and Social Centre Party – People’s Party).
The minister for the Presidency, Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, ended the debate, acknowledging the fiscal year “was not a walk in the park”, but she pointed out that, unlike what the right expected, “the ship did not sink, and it even sailed through new waters”.
During the specialized committee discussion, there were several significant measures that were redesigned with the agreement between the socialist, the block and the communists.
Concerning the Personal Income Tax surcharge (IRS surcharge), for example, it will eventually be eliminated from the first of January onwards for the second bracket for the income (aside from the first bracket, already exempt from paying), instead of continuing until March. By contrast, the fourth bracket will have to pay more. The rural, basic and minimum pensions ended up benefiting from an extraordinary increase of 6 euros in August, instead of none besides the inflation, as the government had proposed.
Besides the fiscal policy measures, the hallmark of the debate about the State Budget was Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD). The topic was brought to the table several times and the opposition highly criticized the management made by the government. It was “clumsy”, said this Tuesday Matos Correia, social-democrat, asking the government to face “the political consequences” of the case.
