Lisbon, Sept. 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The government is set to approve the extension of support for agricultural diesel until the end of the year, at an estimated cost of 15 million euros, as well as aid for the fisheries sector, at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
According to a government source, at the cabinet meeting that is taking place today in Bragança, the government will amend the decree-law it approved at the end of March, which introduced exceptional and temporary support measures to offset the rise in fuel prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East.
The prime minister, Luís Montenegro, announced on Tuesday, during the debate on the motion of no confidence in the Government, that the 10-cent agricultural support, in force until 30 June, will be extended until the end of the year, and the Government will implement it today.
According to the same source, «agricultural and forestry activities» are eligible, and the State Budget will fund it, with new expenditure expected to exceed €15 million.
Fishermen will also receive support through MAR2030, an operational programme that utilises funds from the EMFF (European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund).
«The fisheries sector has €13 million available to offset the rise in fuel costs,» states the government source.
On 4 September, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Sea announced a new call for proposals with a total budget of €18 million, aimed at the fisheries, aquaculture and fish processing and marketing sectors.
During the debate on the motion of no confidence, Luís Montenegro announced that the government had decided to reinstate «specific support for farmers, fishermen, firefighters and private social welfare organisations».
«The support that was in place until the end of June will also apply to hauliers in September,» he stated.
The head of government argued in parliament that the Portuguese government was «among the first in Europe to take action» on fuel prices and again clarified that the state is not profiting from the price rise, as claimed by PS Secretary-General José Luís Carneiro.
«Contrary to what the most inattentive or intellectually dishonest people say, the State is not making money at the expense of the crisis. All the reductions currently in place under the Tax on Petroleum Products (ISP) will, by the end of the year, amount to a tax reduction of around €1.3 billion, according to the Public Finance Council's figures,» he stated.
While acknowledging that diesel and petrol prices have reached extremely high levels, Montenegro pointed out that the exceptional discount on the Tax on Petroleum Products (ISP) reached 23 cents per litre this week.
The cabinet meeting will take place today at 9:30 a.m. in the Library of the Higher School of Technology and Management in Bragança.
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