Chega, IL, Livre, PCP, and BE voted against the PSD/CDS-PP Government’s proposal.
This constitutes the first State Budget of the XXV Constitutional Government, the second coalition executive led by Luís Montenegro, which began its term less than five months ago.
José Luís Carneiro, the Secretary-General of the PS, announced two weeks ago, on October 15, after a National Political Commission meeting, that his party would abstain concerning the Budget proposal for 2026 in general terms, ensuring its approval at this stage.
The Chega party, the second-largest parliamentary group, announced its vote against today, declared by the party’s president, André Ventura, to journalists in parliament shortly before the closing of the Budget’s general debate.
José Luís Carneiro labeled the PS’s stance as a “demanding abstention” aiming to “ensure political stability” since the “basic conditions” he had set for the prime minister were met.
Today, André Ventura justified Chega’s decision to vote against, stating that there is a “fiscal stranglehold” on businesses and families to “sustain a gigantic state machine” and also mentioned that “the Government is adamant about preventing the end of the fuel discount.”
The detailed discussion of the State Budget commences Wednesday in the Budget, Finance, and Public Administration Commission, where all ministers and institutions such as the Court of Auditors, Economic and Social Council, and Public Finance Council will be heard.
The hearings conclude on November 7, the deadline for parties to present amendments to the State Budget.
The final global vote on the State Budget is scheduled for November 27.
A year ago, during the previous government led by Luís Montenegro, the State Budget for 2025 was passed in general and final global voting due to PS’s abstention, while all opposing parties voted against it.
The XXV Constitutional Government took office on June 5, following the early legislative elections on March 18, which the AD (PSD/CDS-PP) won without an absolute majority.
The new PSD/CDS-PP executive led by Luís Montenegro presented the State Budget proposal for 2026 in the Assembly of the Republic on October 9, one day before the deadline and three days before the local elections.
In the macroeconomic scenario underpinning the Budget proposal, the PSD/CDS-PP Government forecasts the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow by 2% this year and 2.3% in 2026.
The executive aims to achieve surpluses of 0.3% of GDP this year and 0.1% next year. Regarding the debt ratio, they estimate its reduction to 90.2% of GDP in 2025 and 87.8% in 2026.
[Updated at 7:14 PM]
