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Insisting that “there is no haggling of efforts to combat the public health crisis”, the Secretary of State for Finance, António Mendonça Mendes, says that there is “no moment when we can discuss the deficit to the tenth” as in the past . In an interview with PÚBLICO / Renascença, which you will be able to hear this Thursday at 11 pm, the government official does not exclude the possibility of having a second Supplementary Budget before the end of the year.
Does the Government fear that the PCP may still change the vote in the OE since it will have its Congress days before the final global vote?
In view of the EO presented by the Government and the context in which the country lives, I believe that no one admits as a hypothesis that the country does not have the EO approved. We had a general vote that featured all the left-wing partners who have so far been supporting the Government’s solution with the surprising exception of BE. That was part of the surprise of the vote in general, but we are convinced that there is a lot of space and a long way for it to be negotiated in terms of specialty and that the EO can pass with the greatest possible support to the left.
When talking about a lot of margin, I remember that UTAO did the calculations and said that there was a difference of more than a billion.
I respect UTAO and I will not see any criticism of UTAO, but UTAO is the technical unit that supports the deputies, the Government is related to the deputies, it is not related to UTAO. Regarding the specialty, we have the same negotiation margin as always in terms of willingness to negotiate and we have the very clear objective of having an instrument that can respond to the situation of the pandemic, the public health needs and what are the consequences of the pandemic crisis. have and are still not quite right. We all have to make a great effort based on the proposal that was presented and discuss changes in the specialty that reinforce the SNS, social protection, business support, income protection.
The amount registered in the OE for a risk subsidy for first-line health professionals of the covid is 270 million euros. Reach?
At this stage, we cannot be talking about large funds or large aggregates. There is an objective: we propose in the OE a very substantial strengthening of the SNS. We will not bargain for a single investment effort in the NHS to save lives. We have to mobilize all the resources to respond not only to the pandemic situation but to all the other pathologies that exist and that must be answered. We reinforce in the Supplementary Budget, we reinforce now and we will reinforce as many times as necessary because lives are priceless. All institutions are united in this purpose, there is no bargaining effort to combat the public health crisis.
So let’s talk about concrete proposals from the parties. The PCP proposes an eighth level of IRS. Is the Government open to this possibility?
This proposal has to do with formalizing at the eighth level what already exists today as a transitory form as an additional solidarity tax. In terms of the IRS, I would like to point out the Government’s commitment to continue the reform of the income tax brackets, that is, in the realm of the middle class where IRS relief had not yet reached. Now there is something that was not in the Government’s program, which is the pandemic and we have to concentrate our efforts on fighting the pandemic, taking measures that are economically significant and effective but that are extraordinary measures, which, if not permanent, allow us to resume the equilibrium situation of the OE. We don’t want to raise taxes. The decision to try to respond to this crisis by not raising taxes is a very important decision that the government takes very seriously.
But they don’t have to cover the 3% deficit in this SO either.
We do not have to meet the objectives of the Treaty at this time, but there will come a time when we will begin to meet them. The fulfillment of these goals is not punitive in relation to the States, it is absolutely essential that the economies have financing capacity. We have no obsession with the deficit. We have the notion that the prudent management of public accounts is the only thing that guarantees the freedom of the country.
Could this deficit forecast for 2021 continue to increase, as a result of the OE negotiations in the specialty?
It is not a time when we can discuss the tenth as we did a year ago, not to go any further. The budgetary balance is not the determining factor for making certain decisions, but neither is it possible to propose missing measures that unbalance the entire exercise of the EO. For example, the PSD has stated that this is an EO that gives everything to everyone and that individually it is not against each of the measures but is against the measures as a whole. The consequence of this speech is that he will not propose an increase in spending. If the PSD wants to assume the image of coherence of its leader, it cannot associate itself with proposals to increase spending that are unaffordable.
E or BE?
Everyone should be aware that OE is not a Christmas fair. The easiest thing would be to approve measures, the most difficult thing later is that these measures can be extended over time and it is this sense of responsibility that I am sure that all parties will have.
Therefore, can the proposals presented by the parties with provisional, extraordinary and non-structural measures be more easily accepted?
Yes, we have already made it clear. Even because of the way we can finance them, it is important to take extraordinary measures, such as the new social benefit, which is a powerful measure …
… which is still not enough for BE, that is, in terms of the protection of the self-employed. Do you agree to make further adjustments in the specialty area?
All the novelties that have been made in the design of this social service are public. That is why it is surprising to everyone that BE was not linked to the final decision. When you vote against EO, you are voting against a social benefit that has been enhanced and modulated with many BE suggestions. I am convinced that throughout the BE specialty you will understand what everyone has already understood. We will be with the same good faith and the same open heart to negotiate.
BE is not in good faith?
BE will be in good faith for sure. Saying that the government is in good faith does not mean that others are not. The worst thing about political life are the adjectives and intention processes that exist. There is no moral superiority in any party. Each one does his part. What I am trying to explain is that I followed the process from the beginning, the genesis of having a social benefit that corresponds to the excluded, to the way in which we have evolved, in terms of scope and conditions of access. So it is very surprising that the result has not been positive so far.
Are you saying that in this support the Government went as far as BE asked and is now asking for more things that it did not initially ask for?
In certain circumstances, the government even went beyond what BE said. What is important to highlight about BE is not the differences that exist, and I think they are tactical. It is important to emphasize the convergence of purposes and responses that we have designed. There is no reason why BE should not return to its natural space, which is the left. BE will not feel comfortable in photography with Chega, IL, PSD and CDS, voting against a social benefit that covers more than 200 thousand people.
Are you thinking about Francisco Louçã’s suggestion to remove Novo Banco from the EO and stay there for May?
As a state advisor, normally the council of prof. Francisco Louçã are carried out within the scope of the Council of State. Then there are your opinions that will normally be highly valued in the political arena in which you fight.
Would it facilitate negotiations or not?
I am convinced that, if we all maintain the spirit of commitment to the country, at the end of the process we will have the approval of the EO by the entire left, which is natural.
The new aid to the self-employed approved on July 24 was not regulated until October. What I ask you is when will it be paid? What if it’s going to be retroactive?
I do not have the detail of the retroactive. For anyone hoping for support, any day that is left is an eternity, but the effort Social Security was asked of over the past year is an absolutely enormous effort. Social Security employees and officials deserve a very encouraging word for their ability to do what has never been done: in the same year, design a benefit, implement it, and pay for it. I remember all the problems that existed with the simplified dismissal, but the truth is that today everyone says that it was a powerful measure to mitigate the effects of the unemployment rate. Designing services, developing information systems is not a task that can be done overnight. We have to have this awareness. But I repeat: this does not mean that you are not aware that each day of lack of support is an eternity for the recipient. But the way in which we have managed to respond from the public point of view is very relevant and I am convinced that this benefit will be paid in the near future.
Still this November?
I do not have the concrete information. The number of orders is also not significant.
And how much?
I have the idea that there are about ten thousand.
The INE released this Wednesday the figures of 126,000 unemployed in the last three months. This means that leave Will they probably have to stay much longer and will unemployment support be higher than the government predicted?
At this point, all predictions should be read carefully and humbly. Currently, the evolution of the pandemic situation is not defined. We have all realized that we are going to have a very difficult November and that December can be a difficult month. As long as the pandemic situation implies limitations to economic activity, what the Minister of Finance has already said must be valid, in no case will the Government stop supporting employment and maintaining employment. The worst that can happen to us is to end the pandemic crisis with the productive capacity destroyed. If we do not have companies and workers at the end of the pandemic crisis, our recovery is not in V, it is much more difficult.
Could there be another supplemental budget this year?
No political leader can rule out any possibility. With the data we have today, it doesn’t seem necessary, but we have to be humble enough to keep up with the extraordinary situation we have and we should not rule out any hypotheses. This does not mean that we are thinking of making a Supplemental Budget. It means that we cannot exclude any hypothesis.
