In Barcelos, during a campaign for the upcoming municipal elections, Mariana Mortágua stated, “The banking sector will benefit in this State Budget in two ways. The corporate income tax, which is the tax banks pay on profits, will be reduced, and the additional solidarity tax will be abolished.”
Expressing criticism over the timing of the Government’s proposal, which she linked to news about Luís Montenegro’s family company, Spinumviva, the leader of the Left Bloc was surprised and shocked by the termination of the additional solidarity tax on banks.
“I know the Government will argue there are constitutional issues with the additional solidarity tax, but the Government has another banking contribution that it can increase to compensate or to reimburse the State for the amount to be returned from the solidarity tax,” she noted.
Mariana Mortágua insisted, “There is no reason for this State Budget to offer a tax break to banks, which has been more than anticipated, adding to already announced tax breaks for large corporations and real estate investment funds.”
“This seems to be the Budget of fiscal inequality, where we once again see large banks and investment funds paying fewer taxes while most people struggle to even pay their rent,” she added.
She mentioned that she has yet to thoroughly read and analyze the State Budget, as it was just delivered today.
“The Government chose to present the document early, and we know why. The news about Spinumviva was not favorable to the Government ahead of municipal elections, and the Government decided to occupy the last days of the municipal campaign with a topic unrelated to it, knowing that the press, political forces, and deputies would be too busy to give the Budget the attention it deserves,” Mortágua criticized.
The Bloc coordinator emphasized that this is not “a serious way to promote and initiate the discussion of the State Budget.”
She stressed, “I take the State Budget very seriously and like to speak after reading it carefully and analyzing the numbers.”
Today, the Government submitted the OE2026 to parliament, just ahead of the deadline and three days before Sunday’s municipal elections.
In the macroeconomic forecast, the PSD/CDS-PP Government predicts the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 2% this year and by 2.3% in 2026.
The executive aims for surpluses of 0.3% of GDP this year and 0.1% next year. The debt ratio is expected to decrease to 90.2% of GDP in 2025 and 87.8% in 2026.
The proposal is scheduled for discussion and a general vote between October 27 and 28. The final global vote is set for November 27, following the detailed debate process.
