"Portugal’s main opposition parties told the beleaguered minority government they will not budge from their refusal to endorse a new set of austerity measures designed to ease a huge debt burden that is crippling the economy.
The new steps are likely to be rejected in a parliamentary vote expected tomorrow and the timing could not be worse. A defeat in the vote, Prime Minister José Sócrates warned, would trigger his government’s resignation, plunging Portugal into at least two months of political limbo just as officials were hoping to boost investor confidence in the country’s future....
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Related:
Portugal leader quits amid debt crisis
"Neither of Portugal’s two dominant parties want to ask for outside financial help like Greece and Ireland, the two other European Union countries that were forced to accept bailouts last year, due to fears that they would be locked into tight fiscal policies and lower living standards for years."
All so banker standards can rise even higher.
"Some investors said that demand for the bonds could have come from China, which previously said it would support European economies troubled by large debt burdens, and Brazil, whose president was recently cited in a newspaper report as saying the country might buy Portuguese debt."
Can they do that?
Portugal seeks bailout as yields jump
"Portugal focuses on securing rescue; Political situation clouds the future" April 08, 2011|By Raphael Minder and Stephen Castle, International Herald Tribune
Political leaders began the task yesterday of setting aside their differences to negotiate acceptable bailout terms with international creditors....
Reaching consensus will not be easy for Portugal’s political leaders. While opposition leaders agree on the need for a bailout, policy makers in Lisbon know they must get all sides to support the austerity measures that will now be demanded by European lenders and, in all likelihood, the International Monetary Fund.
Lisbon’s request for aid also puts additional pressure on other ailing euro economies, led by Spain, which has undertaken austerity measures, a pension overhaul and a cleanup of its banking sector, to stay out of danger. A rescue request from Spain — with an economy larger than that of Greece, Ireland, and Portugal combined — could put the European common currency project at risk.
Isn't it GREAT that the GREED of the GLOBALIST BANKERS is DESTROYING the VERY SYSTEM they have CREATED?
Yesterday, Spain held a successful bond auction, raising $5.86 billion, at a yield that was little changed from three months ago. Separately, France sold $13.6 billion in bonds yesterday, drawing strong demand.
The Spanish sale “confirms that there are no signs of a contagion spreading to Spain at present,’’ said Chiara Cremonesi, a fixed-income strategist in London for UniCredit. “Spain continues to be perceived by investors as part of the safer periphery countries group.’’
In Lisbon, meanwhile, politicians from both sides are due to meet in the coming days to work out what kind of bailout package Portugal will request. One estimate by a European official put Portugal’s needs at about $107.24 billion, but some analysts have suggested that the amount could be as much as $157.29 billion.
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Also see: EU expects Portugal will need $114b in aid
