ys considered outside as as a last recourse scenario, he said. But the time has come to seek outside help for a country who is experiencing an all time high in debt and unemployment. According to the New York Times, its likely that it contracts 1.3 percent this year, this is also according to the Bank of Portugal
The bailout would help Portugal rebound from debt, unemployment, and civilian unrest. The baliout would have to be about 75 billion euros ($106.7 billion US dollars). According the the New York Times, the yields on Portuguese government debt are its highest since the introduction of the euro to the country. Mr. Socrates stated, " This is a particularly serious situation for our country."
The request will be processed in normal procedure and no special actions will be taken to speed up the process. This event is so sudden that it even suprised the European officials that are currently meeting in Brussels. The Finance Minister, Fernando Teixeira, said, "In this difficult situation, which could have been avoided, I understand that it is necessary to resort to the financing mechanisms available within the European framework."
If the bailout were to be processed and accepted Portual would join Greece and Ireland as the only European countries to have been bailed out. Portual has the weakest and smallest economies in the 17-nation union.
You can't really blame Mr. Socrates, who ironically resigned on March 23, for asking the European Union for help. He has been in office with almost no support from the citizens of his country and would not want to be portrayed as the scapegoat for its problems. At least he is trying to fix things while he can.
A new government is set to be decided in June but until then the government is in a serious bind and limbo. He lacks support from others within and outside the country because he has already resigned and no other party in Portual seems to know how to fix the problem.
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