José I. Duarte The presentation of the Policy Address by the Chief Executive started earlier this week. Exceptionally, it is happening three months after the new government initiated its official functions. Why this arrangement was needed at all is open to question: the CE is the same and the Secretaries posts were never open to outside competitors, should they exist. The need and advantages of this delay are less than obvious but, in the circumstances, that is possibly a minor issue that we can afford to leave aside. Of course, the current years budget, which was submitted and approved last December, will have to be reviewed; and, obligingly, the Executive Council has timely finished the discussion of the budget revision proposal. There is no surprise there, either. At the time of this writing, the Chief Executive has already presented the Policy Address introducing, so to speak, the governments guiding principles and policies. The focus will start shortly to move over to the various Secretaries presentations, which are scheduled to take place over a protracted period of almost three weeks – an indication that there is no sense of urgency here, surely. While the CE was going through his presentation, the Government Information Office (GCS) was publishing its contents in real time instalments, as it were. The fact is that a first reading fails to provide any substantial indication about something new or different enough that might clarify why the programme is presented and approved almost four months after the governments start of operations. (Side question: without a programme of its own, and the corresponding budget, should we look at the government, so far, as a kind of limited power administration, a caretaker government? That might be a legally interesting question but we would strive to find anyone arguing that would be worthy of practical discussion). Nonetheless, the Policy Address was expected with some anticipation. The regions major economic driver is stumbling beyond the expectations of many, and the uncertainty about the future is increasing. The talk and jockeying for position in the discussion concerning the renewal of gaming concessions has started and will intensify. However, the new circumstances of the economy do not seem to impact significantly on the contents of the address. They are surely acknowledged but the pertinent declarations remain as vague as ever. In fact, if anything, all seems to be well and happening for the better. We are reassured, first, that the recent slowdown in economic growth speeds up the adequate diversification of the economy; and, second, the progress seen in the last few years in the process of development of the adequate diversification of the economy is the basis for the stable development of the economy[sic]. Hopefully, the Secretary for the Economy will clarify those statements and the accompanying adjectives – in his presentation at the end of this month. Lets wait then.
Top Stories
RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR
【法律解碼】評估澳門《信託法》的進展:是否不負眾望?
第15/2022號法律(澳門《信託法》)於2022年12月1日正式生效。澳門自此成為葡語系首個設立在岸信託法的司法轄區,亦是繼《中華人民共和國信託法》、“台灣地區信託法”及《受託人條例(香港法例第29 章)》後,大中華地區第四部信託法。儘管澳門《信託法》至今已生效逾一年,但據了解,該法尚未得到有效實施,。因此有必要就當前的挑戰和未來的出路展開探討。
OPINION – Investing in Diversification!
As the lights of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the “Two...
【時事評論】公共工程需考慮長遠經濟社會效益
在經濟衰退的時候,著名經濟學家凱恩斯就會被搬出來,為政府加大投資,大興土木的建設基礎設施以推動經濟發展背書。此一說法被詬病多時,然而不少政府及政治人物卻情有獨鍾,甚至樂此不疲。内地奉行鋼筋水泥經濟多時,這股基建風南下到港澳,澳門近年的基建或者大大小小的各項公共工程無日無之,這些能否推動澳門經濟高質發展?事實唔使問阿貴,作用並不顯著。