Brussels, 21/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 April, Portugal issued €1 billion of short-term sovereign debt, at ever higher interest rates (5.5% for six-month Treasury bonds and 4% for three-month bonds). The request for financial assistance made by the Portuguese authorities is not enough to reassure the financial markets, whilst the recent elections in Finland may derail the process of the country's financial rescue (see other article).
A second mission made up of representatives of the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF has been underway since the beginning of this week in Lisbon, with the aim of determining the austerity measures which will be applied in exchange for financial aid which has been put at €80 billion. The members of the mission have met the main national political parties and the social partners. Pedro Passos Coelho, the leader of the Social Democrat Party (PSD, Centre-Right), who is tipped by the opinion polls to win the elections of 5 June, said on Tuesday that the PSD “would not (oppose) an agreement on aid, because the country absolutely needs it”, even though the timetable leaves “little margin for manoeuvre” for the negotiations. The financial aid and the return deal are to be approved by the Eurogroup on Monday 16 May (EUROPE 10355). Lisbon needs a first tranche of aid in order to honour financial commitments of nearly €5 billion in mid-June. (M.B./transl.fl)