FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank and a majority of the
countries of the Eurozone are urging Portugal to follow Ireland’s
example and make a formal request for aid from Europe’s rescue fund, the
Financial Times Deutschland reported Friday.
Without identifying its sources, the paper said that Europe’s goal
in pushing Portugal to seek aid is to circumvent any such need in the
case of Spain.
Their logic, according to the FTD, is that the acceptance of help
by Portugal — whose banks are not as deeply indebted as Ireland’s but
do rely on ECB liquidity — would automatically ease the pressure on
Spain stemming from the heavy involvement of Spanish banks in Portugal.
The FTD attributed this line of reasoning to the German Finance
Ministry and added that the Portuguese government has thus far resisted
petitioning Europe for aid.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com
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