António Leitão Amaro addressed the press after announcing that the Council of Ministers had approved the proposal for the State Budget for 2026, which is scheduled to be submitted to parliament next Friday.
The government official stated that the PSD/CDS/PP government facilitates a more straightforward consensus in the preliminary design of the budget proposal.
“An approach aimed at making the budget less of a public policy document, which includes sectoral regulation matters. A State Budget should not be this,” he asserted.
Referring to previous socialist governments, Leitão Amaro critiqued the “poor practice that existed in Portugal for some years and took hold.”
“And we all know that in this even more challenging scenario in terms of parliamentary outlook, it is less advisable to use these budget riders and budget grafts,” he justified.
Politically, the Minister of the Presidency expressed confidence that the Budget now approved by the government “has all the conditions necessary to be approved in parliament.”
“We hope the Parliament will do its part,” he added, “naturally convinced that the government has once again contributed to meeting the clear desire of the Portuguese: That the Budget is approved.”
The parliamentary debate on the general outline of the government’s proposal for the State Budget for 2026 will occur on October 27 and 28, with the final overall vote scheduled for November 27.
Before the general debate, the proposal will be presented by the Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, to the Budget and Finance Committee on October 24 at 10:00 a.m. On the same day, in the afternoon, the Minister of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security will also appear before the same committee.
The detailed discussion of the Budget in plenary is set to begin on November 20.
Last year, the Budget for 2025, the first of Luís Montenegro’s government, was passed in a final overall vote by PSD and CDS, with the PS abstaining and votes against from Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, Bloco de Esquerda, Livre, PCP, and PAN.
