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The Left Bloc rule, approved with the abstention of the PSD, which prevents the 2021 State Budgets (OE2021) from ensuring a budget of 476 million euros to inject into the New Bank that “arises from a contract already signed” by the State It is something that “happens for the first time” in the History of modern budgets in Portugal, accuses the Minister of Finance.
“We are giving the signal that we will not comply with the contract, it is like writing a bald check,” João Leão shot, in an interview with RTP1, this Friday.
The minister wanted to point out that this decision by Parliament, in the final stretch of the vote for the new OE2021, has caused some surprise in international circles.
The minister recalled that his prime minister, António Costa, immediately called the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) to ensure that everything will be fulfilled as provided in the contract between the State, the Resolution Fund and the private fund Lone Star ( who is the main owner of the ex-BES remains).
But he insisted that “we received contacts from the international press” asking what was happening.
In the same interview, Leão’s response is that the State “is a good person” and that is why “we are studying different alternatives.”
One of them, you know, is to ask the Constitutional Court (TC) to review the aforementioned rule approved by Parliament because it is the government’s belief that what the Parliament approved “violates the Constitution and the Budget Framework Law.”
“We have not yet made this request to the TC,” said the minister, but immediately recalled that “it is the first time” that a budget has been approved without funds for the State to comply with the contracts already signed.
“The law establishes that the State must register the amount foreseen to comply with the assumed spending commitments.
By not doing so, “we are giving a clear signal that we will not comply with these commitments, it is like writing a bald check,” accused the former Secretary of State for Budgets of Mário Centeno (now governor of the Bank of Portugal).
Leão even said it was one thing to pass a standard that would put the money there, but subject to audits and compliance with the rules by the NB. But, the minister accused, that was not what was approved. The money is simply not there.
Leão would later insist on the spectrum of international opinion (the newspapers that called to find out more about this “pull”, as António Ramalho, the general director of NB, called it), to attack Rui Rio’s party again.
“The PSD allied itself with the most radical proposals of the Bloco de Estada to create instability,” declared João Leão.
In any case, the only way to try to overturn the BE rule is not just the constitutional one. The minister revealed that the government is evaluating other ways to overcome the problem.
“We will reasonably try to solve the problem”, being able to review the executing agency and see to what extent “the necessary funds can be met there.”
In this sense, the government and the PS can be secretly calmer. Rui Rio has already said that he will not hamper an amendment to put another 476 million euros in Novo Banco if it is clear that the bank passed the audit.
In contractual terms, Novo Banco, if it is proven by the closing of accounts in 2019 that it will need more than the taxpayers’ money, it will have to request this injection “by May,” Rui Rio said.
For João Leão, “there is no explicit evidence that the NB is not complying with the rules and what was agreed”, but declared that “we must be very demanding with the criteria to apply this money” and be “demanding in that.” evaluation”.
João Leão de-dramatizes the cost of the modification measures of the original OE
Regarding the numerous measures approved to modify the initial proposal of the government of OE2021, Leão played down the impact.
“The initial EO already had room for change measures” because “we are a minority government.”
“We are making a final assessment” of what was approved, but the minister estimates that the surcharge is “a few hundred million euros, with part of that additional cost” already foreseen in the initial objective “of the 2021 deficit, about 4, 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).
For João Leão, the deviation from this objective “will not be significant” and will be “certainly less than 5%”, “less than one billion euros”.
Luís Reis Ribeiro is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
