Lisbon, Nov. 27, 2025 (Lusa) - The prime minister said on Thursday that the amendments in parliament had not distorted the government's proposal for the 2026 State Budget, but that the PS and Chega had violated the political principle that the PSD/CDS-PP government has "the decision-making power".
Speaking to journalists in parliament at the end of the debate and final approval of the 2026 State Budget proposal, Luís Montenegro estimated the financial impact of the measures approved in parliament against the will of the PSD and CDS-PP at around €100 million.
"I would say that, overall, the budget is not distorted, but from the point of view of the functioning of the political and democratic system, unfortunately and regrettably, the two largest opposition parties did not resist the temptation to invade the decision-making sphere that belongs to the government," he said.
Montenegro said it was not the financial impact of the measures approved that concerned the government, but "the principle that is being violated, of respect for the role of each".
"This arbitrary way in which some parties and some MPs choose to manage the budgetary process every year, auctioning off proposals “à la carte”, does not seem to me to be a mature way of approaching the budgetary process," he said, criticising in particular the decisions on tuition fees and tolls.
Montenegro considered that the decisions taken by parliament "make some areas of governance inconsistent from an administrative management point of view".
In particular, he criticised parliament's rejection of the proposal to update tuition fees "in line with the inflation rate", stressing that this was an increase of "one euro per month", saying that the government had earmarked this money for "strengthening social action".
"Taking advantage of this to finance the expenses of those students who are truly in financial need, so that they can have the same opportunities as those who do not have this difficulty. This is what parliament decided to avoid doing and, therefore, it is a violation of a political principle of respect for a decision that is up to the government to make," he criticised.
On the subject of tolls, the prime minister said that he has "long" advocated that there should be "coherent management of the entire mobility system", reconciling its financial sustainability with environmental policy and the projection of new investments, in light of "the concessions that are coming to an end and those that may be launched".
"Attending an annual auction in which MPs decide to exempt tolls here and there, forcing all Portuguese people to pay the cost of that decision, is not good public policy; it is invading the sphere of decision-making that the Portuguese people wanted to endorse the forces that lead the government," he accused.
The prime minister took the opportunity to praise the government's budget proposal once again, saying that it allows us to face 2026 "with optimism", considering it "a demanding year from a budgetary point of view, but full of opportunities".
"Portugal today has a stable financial situation, a very promising economic situation and a stable political situation. It therefore has all the ingredients for economic growth and to attract more investment," he said.
He again stressed that the document does not increase any taxes and continues the "trajectory of wage appreciation, not only through lower wages, but also through the average wage".
"It is a budget of confidence, confidence in Portugal, confidence in attracting more investment and also in complying with the public investment plan we have before us, with a major financial effort, within the scope of the Recovery and Resilience Plan," he said.
For Montenegro, "much more important than approving the budget is implementing what is in the budget".
"And that is what we are going to do, putting all our energy, from the first minute to the last, from the first day to the last day of next year, into implementing the budget that has now been approved," he said.
The draft State Budget Law for 2026 was approved today in a final overall vote with votes in favour from the two parties that support the Government, PSD and CDS-PP, and with the abstention of the PS. The remaining parties (Chega, IL, Livre, PCP, BE, PAN and JPP) voted against.
SMA/ADB // ADB.
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