Brussels, 27/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - As in Greece, the measures recommended by the troika of lenders (the EU, IMF and ECB) to Portugal, which received an aid package worth €77 billion in May 2011, are the wrong answer, both in terms of the analysis and the policies recommended to deal with the problems, said the head of the S&D Group at the European Parliament, Austria's Hannes Swoboda in a visit to Portugal on Monday 26 March. He said the measures the troika had demanded in return for the aid, including reform of the labour market, pay cuts and slashing healthcare expenditure, were wrong and dangerous for Portugal. Swoboda was in Portugal to call for a growth strategy based on investing in education, science and research, along with a focus on small business, which is suffering from a credit crunch. The troika's measures for Greece will be the subject of a hearing at the EP on Tuesday evening. Swoboda said the hearing would shed further light on the way the international lenders operated in countries receiving bailouts, namely Greece, Portugal and Ireland. (SP.transl.fl)