9th May 2014

Portugal concludes the Program

After a favorable report of the review mission by the Troika to Portugal, Lisbon announced that it will end the macroeconomic adjustment program without any successor arrangement. Portugal needed a total bailout of €78 billion in 2011. The IMF, the Commission administered EFSM and the intergovernmental EFSF each contributed one third. In an issued statement, the Eurogroup welcomed the successful conclusion of the program and congratulated Portugal on the deep structural reforms it has undergone and commended the Portuguese people for their efforts in difficult times. The reforms helped to make its economy more flexible and competitive, the Eurogroup statement adds. Nevertheless, Portugal must not lessen its efforts to lower the deficit-to-GDP ratio by 2015 under the SGP limits and it must keep the debt-to-GDP ratio on a firm downward path.

At the Eurogroup meeting on 6 May, the eurozone finance ministers also welcomed the published data on Greek primary budgetary surplus, as well as its first successful auction on the bond market since the sovereign debt crisis. Also, German and Austrian draft budgets were assessed as to their compliance with the SGP.

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Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic