The Vice-President of the Government assured at the Legislative Assembly in Horta that the proposals for next year's Plan and Budget "ensure balanced public accounts, budget stability, higher disposable household income, GDP and employment growth as well as more public, private and external investment.
 
"We have been able to reconcile more income for families with more and better access to health care and with more public investment, thus demonstrating that it is possible to reconcile these goals in a rigorous manner," stressed Sérgio Ávila.
 
The Vice-President stressed that "this budget effort is reinforced by the fact that the Azoreans benefit from significantly lower taxes than the rest of the country and the European Union in general." Additionally, they also benefit from more income supplements compared to the rest of the country.
 
In this regard, the government official mentioned the regional pension supplement, the wage supplement, the family allowance supplement or COMPAMID (support for the purchase of medicine), among many other specific income support measures.
 
"With the combined effect of these measures, the income of Azorean citizens for next year will be 263 million Euros higher compared to those who live in Mainland Portugal on equal footing," revealed Sérgio Ávila.
 
According to the Vice-President, the 2019 Plan and Budget proposals "focus on the economic and social development of the entire archipelago, while maintaining healthy public accounts and an attractive fiscal framework."
 
The government official stressed that "the Region's public debt represents 41.6% of the production level (GDP)," which, compared to the Region's production, "accounts for less than half of the average debt of European Union countries and less than a third of the country."
 
"Our future sustainability guarantees increase twofold over what we produce and, in comparison, with the average of European Union countries," Sérgio Ávila said, stressing that "it is not the Azorean Government that says this, it is the National Statistics Institute, the Bank of Portugal and Eurostat."
 
According to Sérgio Ávila, the Regional Government will continue to "pursue this line of action, ensuring predictability to investors and companies, and security to Azorean citizens."
 
The 2019 Budget provides for an overall allocation of about 1,400 million Euros: 763 million Euros of public investment and 511 million Euros representing the direct investment to be made by the Regional Government.
 
As for the investment directly financed by the Region's Budget, there is a 30% increase in the investment in Health, a 17% increase in Fisheries, a 9% increase in business support and job creation, a 9% increase in Environment and Energy, and a 6% increase in the investment in Agriculture and Tourism Development.
 
"The Azoreans always deserve that we do more and better. This is our motivation and our mission," said Sérgio Ávila. In this context, he considered that the "hard work, determination, trust and ambition" of Azoreans have "enabled the Region to overcome the effects of one of the most difficult international crises that a Government has ever had to face."

According to the Vice-President, these capacities have, in fact, "enabled the Region to resume the path of recovery, where we have travelled together by minimising wage cuts, further supporting families with lower income, and by creating innovative support measures to foster employment and business."