Portugal's Socialists to enable budget passage by abstaining

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's opposition Socialist Party will abstain in the general vote on the centre-right minority government's 2026 budget, which should be enough to approve the bill in its first reading on October 28, the Socialist leader said on Wednesday.

Jose Luis Carneiro said his party "will not be a factor in political instability and will be a firm, but also constructive and responsible opposition".

Analysts had expected such a stance after a snap May parliamentary election, in which the Socialists lost many seats to come third behind far-right Chega, as a way to avoid the risk of another snap ballot that could be unpopular.

"In the general vote, we will abstain, we'll ensure political stability in our country at this stage," Carneiro told reporters, adding that the Socialists would maintain their position in the final vote unless the government changes the bill in parliamentary commissions.

The final vote is scheduled for November 27.

The abstention of the 58 Socialist MPs in the 230-seat parliament means the ruling coalition, with 91 seats, can approve the budget without entering into negotiations with an often unpredictable Chega, which has 60 lawmakers.

Chega leader Andre Ventura said he already knew the Socialists had "sold out" to the government, labelling their move as political tactics.

The government unveiled its 2026 budget bill on Thursday, forecasting slightly stronger economic growth and a small surplus for the fourth straight year despite new tax cuts for companies and lower-income households.

The bill sees the economy growing by 2.3% in 2026, after a predicted expansion of 2.0% this year, slightly above the Bank of Portugal's forecast of 2.2% growth in 2026.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip and Ed Osmond)