The President of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, has assured that the Region will continue to press for its demands to be included in the State Budget for 2025 in the discussion in the specialty.
“I was talking to members of the Government [of the Republic] in the sense that the claims of the Autonomous Region of Madeira are already contemplated in the specialty. At the moment, as everything is open, we will continue to negotiate and pressure,” the Madeiran chief executive told journalists.
On Friday, Miguel Albuquerque considered that the proposed State Budget for 2025 was “a bucket of cold water” saying that the voting orientation of Madeiran deputies will depend “on what is enshrined. When I said that voting depended on that condition, everyone knows that I’m not joking, I’ve already done it and I’ll do it again,” he stressed.
The PSD/Madeira elected three deputies to the Assembly of the Republic, in an electoral district with six representatives, the rest being from the PS (two) and Chega (one).
According to the Madeiran leader, at this early stage of the process “what is enshrined are the main lines of the Budget.”
Albuquerque said that “both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance are paying more attention to the issues raised by the region,” expecting that “they will be contemplated. But,” he stressed, “the will is often conditioned by what one is forced to do.”
According to the State Budget proposal delivered Thursday in parliament, the Autonomous Region of Madeira will receive 279.8 million euros in 2025 under the Regional Finance Law, 25.1 million euros less than in 2024.
Of the 279.8 million euros planned for next year, 199,826,396 will be received under article 48 of the Finance Law of the Autonomous Regions (budget transfers) and 79,930,558 euros under article 49 (cohesion fund for the outermost regions).
On Friday, Miguel Albuquerque also criticized the fact that some of the region’s main demands are not included in the document, such as the extension of the International Business Centre (Free Trade Zone) regime, the principle of VAT capitation, and the payment of the debt of the health subsystems, valued at 60 million euros.
The Government delivered on Thursday, in parliament, the proposal for the State Budget for 2025 (OE2025), which foresees that the economy will grow 1.8% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025 and a surplus of 0.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year and 0.3% next year.
The proposal is not yet assured of viability in general and the vote is scheduled for the 31st, in parliament.
If the PSD/CDS-PP Government’s Budget proposal is made possible with the abstention of the PS or, alternatively, with Chega voting in favour, it will be looked at in detail in parliament between the 22nd and 29th of November.
The final global vote on the Budget is scheduled for the 29th of November.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
