Brussels, 03/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Pedro Passos Coelho, leader of the main opposition party in Portugal, believes that an austerity programme will be indispensable for restoring confidence in his country. “Reducing costs through an austerity programme is urgently necessary. The most effective, and fairest, way to achieve this is through a leaner and more efficient public sector”, said Coelho, head of the Portuguese social democratic party, in an article in the Financial Times on 3 May, listing measures he sees as crucial, like restructuring central government and public enterprises, boosting productivity by cutting labour costs, making taxation encourage economic growth, and fully investigating the state of public finance. This austerity programme would be the price to pay for an international aid package of some €80 billion. The negotiations over the austerity package between the Portuguese government, the ECB and the IMF are expected to conclude later this week. (M.B./transl.fl)