PANJIM: João Leão Fernandes will be the new finance minister of Portugal. João Leão, who is of Goan origin, will take charge of the ministry on Monday. He is the outgoing the Secretary of State for Budgets in the same ministry.
He is the son of Claudio Fernandes, but senior citizens who studied at the Liceu (lyceum) in Panjim would possibly remember his grandfather Prof Leão Fernandes whose house in Campal along DB Road still stands. Originally from Sarzora in Salcette, Prof Leão shifted to Panjim and taught at the Liceu. Claudio, who migrated to Portugal, lives in Lisbon and is retired from government service. Relatives of João Leão who live in Goa said that he had last visited the State in 1998.
The Portuguese media reports that the choice of the new Finance Minister was to give continuity to the policies of the government, as João Leão who is in the same ministry and also was one of the experts who in 2015 was called upon by Prime Minister Antonio Costa, also of Goan origin, to prepare the macroeconomic framework for its first election campaign.
Reports in the Portuguese media say that former minister Alvaro Santos Pereira has termed the selection an ‘excellent’ choice, while Lisbon mayor Fernando Medina has called Fernandes a team player.
However, the timing of the change has been debated in Portuguese political circles and the media. The announcement of the change came on the day the cabinet approved the supplementary budget, which will be presented to the Assembly this week by the outgoing Finance minister, as João Leão takes charge only on Monday. However, one of João Leão’s first tasks will be to defend the budget in the debate next week.
João Leão will also have to negotiate with the other parties the changes to the government proposals, for which he won’t have much time as the government seeks a speedy approval to the budget.
Besides Prime Minister Antonio Costa, the third person of Goan origin in the Portuguese cabinet is the Planning Minister Nelson de Sousa.