–Finance Minister Says Revisions Won’t Push Portugal Towards EFSF Aid
LISBON (MNI) – Portugal, already reeling from a financial crisis
and the collapse of its government last week, today revised its 2010
public deficit up to 8.6% of GDP from the government’s original forecast
of 7% and from a more recent figure of 7.3%, which Lisbon had provided
to the European Commission.
This was part of a larger revision by Portugal’s statistics
institute, INE, of deficit figures going back to 2007.
Finance minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, speaking to
journalists shortly after the figures were released, said the reasons
for the upwards revision were state costs relating to Portuguese banks
Banco Portugues de Negocios (BPN) and Banco Privado Portugues (BPP), and
public transport companies.
These costs were already known and should not affect the financial
markets or hasten a Portugese request for aid from its European Union
partners and the International Monetary Fund, he said.
“We are not in a condition to negotiate external help,” dos Santos
said, adding that Portugal must maintain an “attitude of financing
itself” until a new government comes into power.
He also said the government is going to maintain its 2011 forecast
for a sharp decline in the budget deficit to 4.6%.
However, “One thing is certain: we are much worse off than one week
ago,” the finance minister said, referring to the rejection by
parliament last week of the government’s newest set of austerity
measures. The defeat in parliament was in essence a vote of
no-confidence, forcing Prime Minister Jose Socrates to submit his
resignation. New elections are expected in late May or early June.
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