Portugal and its economic crisis

"In times of crisis, only the imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein

The economic crisis has been felt significantly in some countries such as Portugal, Spain and even Italy, but especially in Portugal who has seen the need to seek EU help to succeed.

es.org journalists, said the brutal strangulation of the Portuguese economy by the international capital markets led to what was expected: a grueling bailout is putting the country to its knees

The fact that the Portuguese economy has grown at a rate of less than 1% annually over the past ten years. It is forecast that gross domestic product this year will decline by 3.5%, reflecting the most severe recession in the country since 1975, when there was a military coup that restored democracy.

The National Statistics Institute said that in the first quarter of this year 326.000 people, a workforce of 5.5 million, had two jobs. And a third of those in employment receive less than 600 euros after deduction of taxes.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that the average wages in Portugal are half that of countries like Britain or Germany, whose purchasing power per capita last year was 118% and 115% of EU average, respectively

He says about elsiglodetorreom.com.mx that the global financial crisis hits hard in Portugal, where it costs to get ahead even if one has a job. In the poorest country in Western Europe, people have two jobs, looking for work abroad, accepts donated food plant or plant any small piece of land.

Unlike other countries like Spain and Greece, Portugal is unique in offering cheap labor and has not trained its workforce and has sought to excel in any area of ​​technology. Therefore, the purchasing power per capita as the GDP was 75.5% of the average European Union, about the same as ten years ago.

Spain and Greece, like Portugal joined the European Union in the 1980s, they took dividends to more ambitious development strategies and fall short of others in wealth.

Some of wages contained in the national job center recently were 450 euros (630 dollars) for a plumber, 700 euros (990 dollars) to a dentist and 600 euros (850 dollars) for a computer programmer. Those salaries are similar to those paid in the countries of Eastern Europe that have just been admitted to the European Union, which have a more educated workforce with better economic prospects.

We added the source, the unemployment rate of 9.3% would be considerably higher were it not for the miserable wage jobs that allow that a person has a job. Portugal at least not at the fate of its neighbor Spain, where wages are 50% higher but the unemployment rate exceeded 17%.

Against this background, rife with disappointment. A Eurobarometer survey found that the Portuguese are more pessimistic citizens of the EU and only 15% envisions an improvement in living standards over the next 12 months. Despair driving a new wave of emigration.

In the decades of 60 and 70, when he ruled a dictator and poverty was rife, more than a million people left the country. They emigrated to richer European nations like France, in search of better wages.

Given this reality points eluniversal.com Economic Union, is shielded to the crisis facing Portugal. Among the measures adopted are, according to diplomatic sources confirmed the creation of a permanent fund to bail out countries on the brink of bankruptcy, as well as a slight revision of the Treaty of Lisbon, to fit this instrument legally

It is said that Europe and especially Germany, the largest net contributor to the coffers of the EU, and wants no more surprises. Greece was the first of the "fire" to shut down as emergency calling about debt helena Economics Commissioner of the block, Olli Rehn. To avoid the bankruptcy of its finances, the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put on the table 110,000 million euros. In the Irish case, the credit (85,000 million euros) came and the bailout fund, with a total budget of 750,000 million. But now all eyes look with concern to Lisbon. "I came here to defend Portugal, to defend the euro", stressed José Sócrates, Portuguese Socialist Prime Minister who resigned last Wednesday after losing a crucial vote in Parliament on his last Luso adjustment package. This cut the budget deficit expected to 4.6 percent of GDP this year compared to 7.3 in 2010, in a desperate attempt to convince the markets, rating agencies, and avoid a bailout.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear the message of austerity. "Government who governs" the possibility of new elections in the country, is "critical not only for Portugal but for the EU" which meets Lisbon settings. How much will the eventual rescue? Luxembourg Prime Minister and Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, said that the amount of 75,000 million euros (105,000 million) would be a figure "appropriate", but made it clear that this is a theoretical figure and not a situation in progress. And is that all indicators of economic health lusa are in red. On Wednesday the 10-year Portuguese bonds reached a height of up to 7.63 percent, while shares in 5 years reached 8.19 percent. According to experts, one level above 7 percent is feasible.

Definitely with this reality, consider that the IMF is concerned with the gross domestic product (GDP) potential Portuguese and want to establish some room for growth, while the EU wants to clear the deficit and debt as a result, demanding interest rates higher than its circumstantial partner to finance the rescue.

With this policy of reducing rates is being pushed to Portugal, local experts understand that the IMF wishes to avoid or at least lessen the recession announced, with investments in companies that could reduce unemployment.

Former Portuguese president Mario Soares socialist (1985-1995) called for more "sensible" voice of the IMF, told IPS that "this is because 24 of the 27 EU governments are now ultra-conservative, completely indifferent to the values the European project

In short, says journalist-es.org the horizon announces times of extreme hardness and no guarantee that the Portuguese soon feel some relief: "Portugal is now a protectorate of the EU and the IMF", said the economist and journalist Nicolau Santos, deputy director of the Lisbon weekly Expresso, commenting on the negotiations,

As evidenced by other cases, the rescue to prevent the collapse is not necessarily a solution. The shadow of Greece and Ireland are increasing skepticism. Almost a year after the start of external assistance, the Hellenic economy is in recession and unemployment is rising, while Ireland suffered a contraction of one percent of GDP.

In the current context, especially in a country with modest and fragile economy, it follows with strict adherence to the path traced by the EU, leading to a scorched earth policy in the social field and applying the law of the strongest in the economic and finance.