“I find the reduction in the transfer of funds unacceptable both for Madeira and for the Azores”, Miguel Albuquerque declared to.

The State Budget/2022 allocates €217 million to Madeira, which represents a decrease of €15 million compared to this year, allocating €281 million to the Azores, €20 million less.

“I think that this State Budget (for 2022), once again, reflects mainly on the cuts in transfers to Madeira, at a time when we need them and we are going through a very complicated period”, he said.

The Madeiran leader said that the advantages of OE/2022 for the regions are “residual”, insisting on the need to revise the Regional Finance Law.

“It is unacceptable, in a period at the beginning of economic and social recovery, after the devastation that we had in Madeira, for the State Budget to reduce transfers by almost €15 million compared to the previous year”, he said.

Miguel Albuquerque mentioned that the reason for this decrease in funds results from the “correlation between the State's revenue and the funds to be transferred to the region”.

On Monday night, the Government delivered to the Assembly of the Republic the proposal for OE2022, which forecasts that the Portuguese economy will grow 4.8% in 2021 and 5.5% in 2022.

The first parliamentary debate process of OE2022 will take place between October 22nd and 27th, the day on which the general vote will be taken.

The final global vote is scheduled for November 25, at the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon.