BdP
Hélder Rosalino
Former director of Banco de Portugal was going to receive 15 thousand euros for being secretary general of the Government. But he won’t admit it.
The former director of the Bank of Portugal Hélder Rosalino informed this Monday the Government of its unavailability to take on the role of Secretary General of the Governmentsays the prime minister’s office.
Hélder Rosalino should start his duties from Wednesday, after having been appointed as Secretary General of the Government last Friday
In a statement, Luís Montenegro’s office states that “the solution found allowed Dr. Helder Rosalino maintained the salary earned several years ago at Banco de Portugalwhich was defined by this”.
“And it would allow the Portuguese State, as a whole, to saving a second salarycorresponding to the legal table for the Secretary General of the Government. THE Banco de Portugal’s refusal to continue paying salary origin did not prevent the saving of public resources, but created a undesirable complexity”, advances on the same note.
Given the unavailability of Hélder Rosalino, who was Secretary of State for Public Administration in the executive led by Pedro Passos Coelho, the government points out that “it will soon appoint another personality as secretary general”.
“And the Banco de Portugal will continue to support the current maturity by Dr. Hélder Rosalino”, he adds.
Last Friday, in a note, Luís Montenegro’s executive clarified that the creation of the General Secretariat of Government was part of the first phase of the public administration reform. A reform that aimed to carry out “the extinction of nine entities by merger into the General Secretariat of the Government and other integrating entities, cutting the number of management positions by 25%”, which will generate “savings of around 4.1 million euros per year to the State”.
Also according to the executive, the new entity should result from the process of extinguishing three general secretariats (Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Economy and Environment and Energy) and CEGER (Government IT Network Management Center), by merger into the Secretariat -General of the Government and other integrating entities.
However, shortly after the announcement of Hélder Rosalino’s appointment, the former Secretary of State under Pedro Passos Coelho had chosen to be remunerated as Secretary General of the Government by his original salary at the Bank of Portugal, higher than 15 thousand eurosand not in accordance with the single remuneration table for the Public Service, whose salary would be in the order of six thousand euros.
In a statement, Banco de Portugal also assured that I wouldn’t assume any value of the more than 15 thousand euros in salary of Hélder Rosalino as Secretary General of the Government.
“The Bank of Portugal does not assume any expenses related to the remuneration of the Secretary General of the Government, as follows from the Eurosystem rules on the prohibition of monetary financing. As is legally stipulated, it is also up to the General Secretariat to reimburse the Bank of Portugal for any component of the social protection regime that has been processed directly, as a result of the applicable legal framework”, says the note issued by the Bank of Portugal.
On a political level, this Government decision was immediately challenged by Chega’s president, André Ventura, claiming that this would mean that Hélder Rosalino would earn “40% more than the prime minister”considering this absurd salary at a time when there are “difficulties in paying doctors, nurses, and having high pensions”.
“I do not accept that anyone in the public space receives more than the President of the Republic. It is a mistake, a political error, which anyone with minimally rational eyes realizes is nonsense”, said the Chega leader, expressing the hope that the Government will “go back” on this decision.
This Monday, the PS announced that it intended to ask parliamentary appreciation and amendment to the decree-law which determines the salaries of the directors of the General Secretariat of the Government – a diploma that would allow Hélder Rosalino to maintain his original salary of around 15 thousand euros.
“Although it is not a reserve matter for the Assembly of the Republic, the definition of the remuneration framework for management personnel – in particular with exception rules that allow managers to earn more than the President of the Republic – it is advisable that parliament be a party to the decision of this matter”, it says in the PS statement.
On social media, the coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda, Mariana Mortágua, criticized the appointment of Hélder Rosalino with a salary of more than 15 thousand euros per month, announced that she would call him to the Assembly of the Republic and that she would do everything to prevent this appointment from happening. materialize.
Also on Monday, the PAN presented a request addressed to the Prime Minister for “all documentation” to be sent to the Assembly of the Republic regarding the process of appointing Hélder Rosalino to the position of Secretary General of the Government and the respective cost.
Regarding Decree-Law No. 114-B/2024, which the President of the Republic promulgated on December 18th and which was published in the Official Gazette on December 26th, the PAN questions “the concentration of competencies of entities apparently without an apparent functional connection or thematic proximity, since there was a concentration in this new General Secretariat [do Governo] of powers previously attributed to the General Secretariats of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and also the Government IT Network Management Center”.
Despite this quick withdrawal, the subject should not be forgotten in the Assembly of the Republic. According to , deputies will still be able to revoke the decree that allowed the manager to keep his salary.
