Luxembourg, 15/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg made encouraging noises about Portugal, which will be receiving aid of €3.7 billion at the end of November.
The head of Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, praised the country's efforts to consolidate its public finance and encourage economic competitiveness, speaking on Monday 14 October at the end of the eurozone finance ministers' meeting. He mentioned serious challenges for the implementing of the programme, like reform of the judiciary and education system, but said that the talks on exiting the aid programme in the spring of 2014 would not take place until the first quarter of next year.
French economy minister Pierre Moscovici said Eurogroup had given Portugal a message of encouragement and confidence, and the reforms in the country were starting to bear fruit, although great effort was still required.
The next batch of aid will be paid once a formal decision has been taken by the European Financial Stability Fund when the troika of lenders (the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank) issues its report, expected at the end of November. (MB/transl.fl)