The Azorean government’s (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) proposed Investment Plan for 2024 is two billion euros, like the previous one, which was rejected in November, and responds to a “huge set of needs”, according to the executive.
“It’s a budget of two billion, which is quite a vast budget, and it responds to this huge set of needs. And the [Investment] Plan has a total of 739 million euros, which also corresponds to this set of pressing needs,” said the Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities today.
Paulo Estêvão was speaking to journalists in the city of Horta, on the island of Faial, after handing over the documents to the President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Luís Garcia.
According to the minister, the transfers from the Republic are “around 300 to 370 million euros”.
“Then we have the public service obligations, which are 10 million euros, and what we’re waiting for, and which is already covered, […] is the 55 million euros, which are the responsibility of the Republic, [and] which were not transferred by the previous government in relation to hurricane Lorenzo,” said Paulo Estêvão.
When asked about the differences between the new document and the one presented in November 2023, he said that “there are no major changes”.
“From a budgetary point of view, it only has an impact on health and education, where there is an increase in spending at this level and, therefore, there is an adjustment to strengthen these sectors,” he explained.
“Everything else in the current set of responsibilities remains intact. In other words, the large set of responsibilities that we had in the previous Plan and also in the previous Budget,” explained the regional secretary of the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition government.
Paulo Estêvão also assumed that the documents delivered today in the Azores parliament “are elements of continuity”.
“It was a commitment by the [regional] government to maintain the budget that was presented and that didn’t pass here [in the regional parliament] and that was scuppered by the opposition forces, especially the Socialist Party. And so the coalition’s commitment was to resubmit a budget that included the broad guidelines and commitments made by the government,” he explained.
Paulo Estêvão also stated that the executive’s proposal led by José Manuel Bolieiro includes “a set of guarantees” that had already been given, such as valuing the civil service and keeping taxes at their current levels.
The maintenance of the Azores Tariff and the policy of ending apportionments were other measures highlighted by the governor, who is also leader of the PPM/Azores.
The goal of the Regional Government, he also stressed, is to “keep the region growing economically”, keep unemployment “so low” and preserve “the largest number of employees ever in the history of the Azores”, among other aspects.
This is the second time that the regional government led by José Manuel Bolieiro has presented a preliminary Investment Plan for this year, after the previous one was rejected in the Legislative Assembly in November, with PS, BE and IL voting against and Chega and PAN abstaining, which led the President of the Republic to call early elections.
The new PSD, CDS-PP and PPM coalition government, which emerged from the early parliamentary elections on February 4, governs the region without an absolute majority in the Azorean parliament and therefore needs to negotiate the support of some parties with parliamentary seats in order to approve its proposals.
The Government Program was approved in parliament in March, with the three parties that make up the executive voting in favor, Chega, IL and PAN abstaining and the PS and BE voting against.
The debate and vote on the Plan and Budget proposals for 2024 is scheduled for May 21.
