Duarte Freitas advocates budget adjustments with Azorean economy growing - Communication

Secretaria Regional das Finanças, Planeamento e Administração Pública

The Regional Secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, Duarte Freitas, defended today at the Azorean Parliament a "prudent financial policy that maintains low taxes" as a mechanism to stimulate economic growth, while ensuring balanced accounts and investment capacity.

Duarte Freitas acknowledged that the "current situation is paradoxical," with “historic” indicators but "also with a huge challenge in terms of budget sustainability."

He noted: "It is precisely now that we must take action, as the worst mistake would be to wait for stagnation or crisis to redress imbalances. We cannot waste this opportunity. It is time to make budget adjustments while the economy is growing."

"I can announce here that the 14th Regional Government will present, within a maximum period of one month, a savings plan with a series of measures that will result, as early as 2026, in savings in the Regional Budget amounting to more than 30 million Euros," he said, speaking at the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

These include measures such as a 20% reduction in office and consultancy expenses or an equal percentage reduction in travel and accommodation, studies and reports, seminars and exhibitions.

"This plan also includes measures to effectively maximise regional assets, which are expected to generate an impact of over two million euros by 2026," he added.

"The total amount of main taxes rose from around 541 million Euros in 2019 to 681 million Euros in 2024, an increase of 26%,” he explained.

In the second quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate reached "a historic low of 3.9%," the best figure since 2007, while in 2024, 4.39 million overnight stays in tourism were registered, "a 45% increase, and 188 million Euros in revenue, 80% more than five years ago."

He continued: "Although the update of the statistical series has postponed this goal by one year, in 2025, the Region will exceed the 6 billion-Euro GDP mark, something unthinkable just a few years ago.

In 2019, it stood at 4.349 million Euros, according to the same statistical basis as the 2021 series.

These figures prove that the economy is generating wealth, income and consumption. The Azorean economy is stronger than ever. This is due to the efforts and success of businesses and families.

Duarte Freitas highlighted several measures implemented by the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition governments that had a clearly positive impact on Azorean citizens. He specifically mentioned "tax cuts that removed hundreds of millions of Euros from the region's treasury," but emphasised that these cuts "restored and stimulated income for families and businesses."

The government official also highlighted the success of the “Azores Fare,” which has led to an investment of 13.5 million Euros this year, when it was initially estimated to cost six million Euros.

Meanwhile, he noted that increased funding for health and education enabled the payment of teachers' seniority entitlements and the revaluation of health careers.

“These are the achievements of this Government, delivering justice that was previously denied. In education, transfers grew by 45% between 2019 and 2025, while in health, they grew by around 80%. Salary increases between 2024 and 2025 represent more than 52 million Euros, including 32 million Euros for the teaching career. All of this, naturally, puts pressure on the Regional Budget," he said.