Regional Government stresses that Public Finance Council has confirmed soundness of Region's accounts - Communication

Secretaria Regional das Finanças, Planeamento e Administração Pública

The Regional Secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, Duarte Freitas, praised the Public Finance Council's positive assessment regarding the Region's accounts, stressing that this entity confirmed their "soundness" and "credibility."

"Our GDP is growing more than the country as a whole and the weight of debt regarding GDP has begun to fall, confirming what we had pointed out," highlighted Duarte Freitas.

In 2023, under national accounting, the Regional Administration, including the Azores and Madeira, returned to a balanced budget, stressed the Public Finance Council.

As Duarte Freitas emphasised, the data "completely and utterly disproves" the "idea" held by some opposition parties on the subject. The international rating agencies and the Public Finance Council confirm the credibility of public accounts.

The Azores and Madeira recorded economic growth above that of the country in 2023, which contributed to their return to a balanced budget, highlighted the Public Finance Council.

The debt ratio in the Azores, according to the Maastricht definition, "broke for the first time the upward trend that had been maintained for a decade and a half," dropping 3.5 percentage points to 59.6% of regional GDP.

"This improvement was the result of the economic context. It reflected a strong favourable dynamic effect that more than offset the impact of the primary deficit of 2.2% of the regional GDP," stated the Public Finance Council.