Portugal: Greece must take the bitter pill of austerity, as we did

Economy Adina Camarasu
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Portugal went through hard years of austerity, which are now paying off and Greece must also respect its commitments to her partners in the euro zone and creditors, said the minister of Economy, Antonio Pires de Lima to Reuters.

Pires de Lima excluded any renegotiation of the public debt of Greece, saying that Athens must respect the rules established by the members of the monetary union, especially considering the sacrifices made by Portugal.

The debt crisis in Greece became ‘ardent’ again earlier this month, after the new left government headed by Syriza party said it would abandon the reforms required in the bailout program and also the cooperation with the creditors (European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF), after years of austerity.

Pires de Lima said that the Lisbon authorities chose a path that was not easy to restore credibility and return to growth and this attitude also applied to other countries.

‘Portugal did everything that was necessary to eliminate the atmosphere of suspicion around the country, dispelling all shadows, all clouds, all doubts’, he said.

The center-right Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho driven imposed drastic cuts, economic reforms and major privatizations, taking advantage of the low level of protests and strikes.

Portugal will hold general elections in October, while the parties of the extreme left, inspired by Syriza (Greece) and Podemos (Spain), are unlikely to attract the votes of traditional right-centered and left-centered parties, according to various polls.

Pires de Lima said the economy recovers and will possibly record this year an increase of 2%. The government’s official estimation is an increase of GDP of 1,5%, while the European Commission forecasts a rate near 1,6%