Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Diario Economico: Opposition Leader says limited room for maneuvre

Passos Coelho, the PSD leader, said this morning in a forum that he expects a 4 year package with further austerity measures for the state
Pedro Passos Coelho has admitted this morning that the country has a limited bargaining room with the troika, given the package needs to be closed by early May. "The margin to negotiate is very small. Portugal should have asked for help earlier.", said the PSD leader. "Austerity can not be for the people, it must be for the State now", is one of the principles, explained Pedro Passos Coelho, at the moment sitting with the IMF, ECB and the European Commission.

Passos Coelho, esta manhã no fórum TSF, disse que espera um pacote para quatro anos com mais austeridade para o Estado.
Pedro Passos Coelho assumiu esta manhã, na TSF, que a margem negocial do País para negociar com a troika é muito curta tendo em conta que o pacote terá de ser fechado até ao início de Maio. "A margem de manobra é muito pequena, Portugal deveria ter pedido ajuda há mais tempo", disse o líder do PSD.
"A austeridade não pode ser para as pessoas, agora tem de ser para o Estado", é um dos princípios, explicou Passos Coelho, que está neste momento a ser transmitido por Eduardo Catroga à equipa de técnicos do FMI, BCE e Comissão Europeia.

1 comment:

  1. Austerity for the State definitely yes, but don't think that will not affect the people; that would be utopical at this stage and the IMF or the EC will not go for that political pre-elections blabla.

    First measures to be implemented are expected to be:
    1)increase in all VAT rates (despite us already having the highest in the EU)
    2)increase in taxes for gas, tobacco and alcohol
    3)increase in the price of public transportation (to compensate for the huge financial hole that was created)
    4)increase in the age of retirement (68 is the number advanced in the newspapers)
    5)flexibilization in labor law (although that requires a modification in the Portuguese Constitution and that is usually tricky, requiring 2/3 of the votes in the parliament)
    6)layoffs in the local administration offices (said to be overstaffed)

    It will be a rollercoaster ride!

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