Portugal’s Communists, PAN to Abstain in Vote on 2020 Budget

(Bloomberg) --

Portugal’s Communists and the People-Animals-Nature party said they will abstain in Friday’s initial vote on the minority Socialist government’s 2020 budget proposal as Prime Minister Antonio Costa starts a second term.

The Socialist Party increased its number of seats in parliament to 108 in the 230-seat chamber following the Oct. 6 election, and the abstention of the 10 Communist lawmakers and four PAN members of parliament means Costa is close to getting his budget to pass in the initial vote. Approval requires a simple majority.

The Left Bloc party, with 19 seats, said on Saturday that it would abstain or vote against the budget and that it would continue holding talks with the government before Friday’s vote in parliament as it seeks higher wages and pensions.

The 2020 plan is Costa’s first budget after winning a second term in the October general election. The premier wants to post the country’s first budget surplus in four decades of democracy, helped by higher tax revenue.

In his first term, Costa got consistent support for his budgets from the Left Bloc, Communists and Greens, leading only the second minority government in Portugal to serve a full term since a four-decade dictatorship gave way to democracy in 1974.

A final vote on the budget is scheduled for Feb. 6.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joao Lima in Lisbon at jlima1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Henrique Almeida

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