The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund welcome the economic and financial adjustment programme which was agreed by the Portuguese government.

Following the successful conclusion of the negotiations with the European Commission, in liaison with the ECB, and the International Monetary Fund, EU has accepted the Portuguese adjustment programme. Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted, in a joint statement, their support to the economic programme announced by the Government of Portugal. They also stressed that this programme will require major efforts from the Portuguese people. Therefore, in this context, they firmly support the authorities’ intention to protect the most vulnerable groups and to ensuring that it is implemented in a socially balanced way.

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has also accepted the economic and financial adjustment programme and it considers very important the broad political support for the adjustment programme, which enhances the overall credibility of the programme. According, to the ECB the programme contains the necessary elements to bring about a sustainable stabilisation of the Portuguese economy.

This programme is built on three strong pillars. First, a set of pro-growth measures aimed at making the country competitive again and creating jobs, especially for the young people of Portugal. Second, a set of ambitious fiscal measures needed to reduce the public debt and deficit, implemented at a pace that is realistic and which allows Portugal the time it needs to demonstrate policy implementation and restore market confidence. And finally, a set of measures aimed at ensuring the stability of Portugal’s financial sector.