Brussels, 02/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - A symbol of the austerity measures introduced as part of the international financial aid programme negotiated for Portugal in 2011 and also the programme's failures, Portuguese finance minister Vitor Gaspar, second-in-command to the country's prime minister, presented his resignation on Monday evening. The surprise resignation was announced by the government. Press agencies say he will be replaced by the secretary of state at the treasury, Maria Luis Albuquerque, who is responsible for privatisations. The European Commission reacted immediately, urging Portugal to pursue the reforms at the same rate. In a press release, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Portugal was approaching the final stage of its structural adjustment programme, a lot has been done to consolidate public finance, restore financial stability and introduce structural reforms for competitiveness and job creation.
Gaspar has resigned at a time when Portugal is suffering from a much deeper recession and higher unemployment levels than expected. The social context is tense and trade unions recently organised the fourth general strike in two years. The economy has been contracting for two years now and is expected to shrink by 2.3% in 2013, with unemployment hitting the record high of 18.2%. Gaspar joined the government from a post at the Bank of Portugal, where he was an adviser, after having been director general at the European Commission president's European policy adviser team (BEPA). His critics say that his strict application of the troika's austerity and reform recommendations has generated social discontent and dissent within the Centre-Right coalition government. (SP/transl.fl)