Portugal must make sacrifices to surmount the crisis

After the rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered Portugal's credit rating from A+ to A- yesterday the business paper Diário Económico calls on the minority government and the opposition to agree on a joint approach. "[Prime Minister] José Sócrates and [the leader of the social democratic party] Pedro Passos Coelho are holding a crisis meeting today. Hopefully it will produce more than the line: 'The speculators are to blame'. The blame lies mostly with us, here in this country, and therefore it is their duty to place the interests of the country above those of their parties. The PEC Stability and Growth Programme must ... be presented, or at least its main points, and vigorously implemented. There is no alternative - except the insolvency and bankruptcy of the country. Portugal has lived above its means for several years, and through comparisons with Greece has landed in a difficult situation from which it will only emerge with great sacrifice."

» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Portugal

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, April 28, 2010