LISBON, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Minister of Finance Mario Centeno on Wednesday promised to provide extra budgetary spending to tackle forest fires, but without adding to the deficit.
"There is a pressing need for the 2018 state budget to include measures to support economic and social recovery and prevent and combat fires," he said.
But these measures could be implemented "without jeopardizing the commitments we've already made," he added.
Portugal exited the European Union (EU) excessive deficit procedure in June. Centeno said he must balance budgetary demands with deficit obligations.
His comments came as he presented the government's budget proposal to the parliamentary commission for budget, finance and administrative modernization.
The original budget proposal had been submitted to parliament on Oct. 13. Forest fires raged through northern and central Portugal two days later, killing 45.
The government subsequently called a meeting of its council of ministers to discuss new fire prevention and recovery packages.
Some of the new measures "will have an additional impact on the budget," Centeno admitted. But he said most would be financed through EU funds and public donations.
Furthermore, the EU has pledged to consider fire-related expenses as "exceptional" when analyzing Portugal's spending.
The state budget will be debated in Portugal throughout November and put to a parliamentary vote on Nov. 28.
