Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa (L), Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva (C) and Finance Minister Mario Centeno attend a debate on the 2018 state budget at the parliament in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 27, 2017. Portugal's 2018 state budget passed through parliament late on Monday, six weeks after it was first presented to lawmakers. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)
LISBON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's 2018 state budget passed through parliament late on Monday, six weeks after it was first presented to lawmakers.
The budget of the minority Socialist Party (PS) government was voted through with the backing of its parliamentary allies, the Left Bloc (BE), the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Greens (PEV), along with the People, Animals, Nature Party (PAN).
The center-right opposition parties, the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the Central Social Democratic-Popular Party (CDS-PP), voted against.
New measures include additional income tax bands, a thawing of the public sector pay rise and promotions freeze, and an increase in pension payments.
Amendments introduced since the bill's first reading include a tweak to self-employment obligations and a higher surtax on company profits exceeding 35 million euros (41 million U.S. dollars).
But a levy on foods with high salt content, the so-called "chips tax", was discarded.
Having been approved by parliament, the budget must now be ratified by the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
