Finance Minister Joachim Miranda Sarmento will go to parliament on Wednesday to discuss public finances. Before his hearing, Sarmento sent the representatives a list of 41 measures approved by the previous government that have not yet been approved by the Director General of Budget (DGO). These measures, which were approved from November 2023 to March this year, have not received an appropriate budget allocation, meaning no funds have been earmarked for their implementation.
According to ‘Expresso’, among the extraordinary expenses of Antonio Costa’s government, 15 authorizations total 1,081.2 million euros. The largest of these expenditures was transferred 566 million euros to reduce the charges for access to the national electricity system network, aimed at reducing the increase in electricity charges. Other spending included 100 million euros for ammunition for Ukraine and 88.4 million euros to support drought-stricken farmers.
The finance ministry’s response came after a PS parliamentary committee demanded an explanation for Sarmento’s allegations that the public accounts had “severely deteriorated”. According to Sarmento, the previous government spent an additional 1.1 billion euros after the dismissal of Antonio Costa. Also, he alleged that the previous government had approved about 1.2 billion euros in activities without the necessary authorization of the DGO.
Actions approved without budget allocation do not mean misappropriation of funds, but they indicate that the responsible institutions have not yet requested the DGO to reserve these funds.
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