Portugal becomes latest country to ask for a austerity bailout

So as we hear our news tonight we hear Portugal is the latest country to aqquire a financial bailout from the EU. this is the third country now after Greece and Ireland. If this trend continues this really could spell a crisis for the major forces in the EU.

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that he has asked the European Union for financial assistance.

Mr Socrates said the country was "at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to".

The government has long resisted asking for aid but last week admitted that it had missed its 2010 budget deficit target.

Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.

"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," Mr Socrates said.

"Above all, it's in the national interest."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".

He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".

Borrowing costs

Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be underway and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).

Mr Socrates was speaking after Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said it was necessary to resort to financial aid from the EU.

Matthew Price

Europe correspondent, BBC News

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First Greece, then Ireland, now Portugal. But unlike the previous two bail-outs, this one does not seem to have provoked panic - either in the corridors of power here, nor on the markets.

The EU's top economic official Olli Rehn called the Portugese decision a "responsible move". The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso - himself Portugese - said the request would be processed as quickly as possible.

A team could be dispatched to Portugal in the coming days.

EU finance ministers hold a scheduled meeting in Hungary at the end of the week. Portugal will be top of the agenda.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank are both expected to be involved in the bail-out funding. The International Monetary Fund says it stands ready to help as well.
Earlier, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.

Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority Socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.

Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.

An informal meeting of European finance ministers had already been scheduled for Thursday in Budapest. Portugal was not originally on the agenda but is expected to be discussed.

The UK Treasury Minister Mark Hoban will attend. A source at the Treasury said that the bilateral loan the UK offered to the Irish Republic was "very much a special case" and a similar offer is "not on the table" for Portugal.

Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at IHS Global Insight, told the BBC that Portugal might organise "some sort of bridging loan" in the short term.

But he added: "The real big loan over several years will require a medium-term plan and I don't think that can be agreed until the new government comes into place."

Elections are likely to take place in a few months' time.


Many things stand out for me in this piece i've found from the BBC. One is the simialrities in language used by this guy. The term "national interest" again reminds me of David cameron's arguement that the cuts in the Uk wre in the national interest and dealing with the deficit is in our national interest. Plus again i feel that any bailout for any country now will result in heavy cuts that again you guessed it fall on the working class. Portugal isnt a very rich country and its working class will unfortunatly have to suffer from these cuts again i am sure. Not if they resist though.

Again i am sure that as in Portugal as in Ireland as in Greece mistakes from teh bankers and the gambling nature of these bankers has caused this crisis. But instead of the bankers paying for their mistakes of which they should the burden is placed on the shoulders of the working class again and again. They want to take back all that we have won over the years and put us back in our box. I do hope the good people of Portugal can organise and form a resistance to these oncoming cuts. They like us face the same struggles and battles ahead in Portugal and we stand by the comrades in taht country to build for an alternative with strikes and demo's on a large mass scale.