Fernando Medina appointed minister of Finance in government reshuffle

Lisbon’s former mayor Fernando Medina is to be Portugal’s next finance minister, replacing João Leão who in turn had replaced Mário Centeno, now the governor of the Bank of Portugal.

In the reshuffle, Duarte Cordeiro will be minister of the Environment and Helena Carreiras will take the portfolio for Defence.
By appointing the ex-mayor of Lisbon Fernando Medina to the post of Finances (he was defeated at the municipal elections last year by PSD candidate Carlos Moedas), the prime minister has sent a clear sign that Medina is being groomed as one of the possible future leaders of the PS party, a potential prime minister candidate in waiting to stand in the next general election.
If the President of the Republic signs off on the ministerial changes, the first major task of the new Finance minister will be to draw up and deliver the preliminary State Budget for 2022 which is guaranteed to pass because the Government has a majority in the Portuguese parliament.
The budget document has been updated over the past few weeks by the current team at the ministry to take account of both the economic consequences of the Ukraine war and inflation.
On Medina’s table will be the problem of how to tackle the inflation of both energy and food prices. Following pressure from both the public and companies, the government has pressed ahead with several measures including a freeze on the carbon tax, raising the platform on the Autovoucher to €20 which are meant to help offset soaring fuel prices, the refunding of increases derived from ISP fuel duty VAT revenues, and credit lines for companies. The ministry of Finance is also preparing to lower VAT on fuel which could have a significant impact on the budget.
The list of ministers that will be handed to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has the following names: Ministry of the Presidency – Mariana Vieira da Silva, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – João Gomes Cravinho, Ministry of National Defence, Helena Carreiras, Ministry of Internal Administration, José Luís Carneiro, Ministry of Justice, Caterina Sarmento e Castro, Ministry of Finances, Fernando Medina, Minister Adjunct to Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, Ministry of Economy and Sea, António Costa de Silva, Ministry of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, Ministry of Science, Technology and Further Education, Elvira Fortunato, Ministry of Education, João Costa, Ministry of Employment, Welfare and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, and Ministry of Health, Marta Temido. Also, Ministry of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, Ministry of Infrastructures and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, Ministry of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes.