"They could have even said and promised 100 billion, because it costs nothing to make promises and then not put it in the budget", stated the government official, in statements to journalists, at the entrance to a colloquium at the Ovibeja agricultural fair.

According to the holder of the Agriculture and Fisheries portfolios, the previous PS executive approved a resolution in the Council of Ministers to support farmers in combating drought, which "has an impact of 100 million on the 2024 budget.

"They are not. And I don't mean that the [previous] minister lied to me, because I think she was convinced that they were, but someone lied to her and whoever lied to her was the previous government", he said.

José Manuel Fernandes said that, when he took over the portfolio, he asked the previous minister "several times" if the budgetary impact of the Council of Ministers resolutions was in the State Budget for 2024 (OE2024).

"And she said it was. I asked her more than once", he stressed, noting that he was surprised when the current Minister of Finance told him that the amount provided for this year was not in the budget.

Now, according to the minister, the Government is studying how to "resolve this situation".

"The truth is that there are 100 million euros from a resolution of the Council of Ministers that are not in the 2024 budget and that I was told were", he added.

On Thursday, the Minister of Finance estimated at around 600 million euros the deficit recorded until the end of the first quarter of this year and accused the previous government of having increased spending after the last legislative elections.

"The budgetary situation is much worse than the previous government had announced", declared Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting.

The government official also added that the current executive is making "an exhaustive survey" of 108 resolutions approved in the Council of Ministers after António Costa's resignation on 7 November last year.

"I can already identify three of a significant amount that were promises without budgetary allocation: 100 million euros to support farmers in combating drought in the Algarve and Alentejo; 127 million euros to purchase vaccines against covid-19; and 200 million euros for the recovery of the School Park", he added.

Also on Thursday, in statements to journalists, after Miranda Sarmento's statements, the former Minister of Finance Fernando Medina (PS) denied that Portugal has a budgetary problem.

And he defended that the budget execution reflects the changes in withholding tax and extraordinary expenses, recalling that it does not include the balances transferred between the State and Social Security.

"The values in public accounting are very easy to explain. First, they result from the true, effective policy of tax reduction that the PS Government recorded", said Fernando Medina.

The former government official also justified that the growth in pension spending until March is being greater this year than last year and pointed out the impact of a set of extraordinary expenses, such as those related to the tariff deficit, State legal proceedings or the support of 100 million euros to farmers due to drought.

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