Brussels, 02/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - Portugal, which is in receipt of an international aid programme, is worried that its economy will be weakened by the Greek referendum on the eurozone's bailout plan, although Lisbon has made it a point of national honour to pay back its loans and meet its pledges.
The Portuguese foreign minister said to Portuguese journalists in Caracas, Venezuela, where he was making an official visit, that at a time when Europe needed signs of confidence, they were facing a situation that only added to the insecurity and unpredictability.
The third eurozone nation, after Greece and Ireland, to require international aid, Portugal was granted loans totalling €78 billion from the IMF and the EU over three years and has promised to introduce the agreed austerity programme and introduce further reforms besides.
Portas told his fellow countrymen that the more they see signs of instability and division in other countries, the more they should appreciate stability and consensus back home.
The Portuguese prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho, said that the country would be asking for changes to its financial aid programme at the upcoming quarterly evaluation by the international creditors to water down the austerity measures or be given extra time to sort out the economy. (LC/transl.fl)