Portugal edges closer to crisis

[crust]

Boa tarde

link: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news ... d=10710543

Excertos:
"Portugal, long considered likely to be the next European country to reach crisis point, with its hefty debt burden and struggling economy, is seeing yields on its government bonds rise above 7 per cent - something that, as City of London consultancy Fathom points out, Greece and Ireland were only able to withstand for a couple of weeks before accepting a bailout.

European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has ratcheted up the pressure by signalling he is ready to raise interest rates, making life even harder for Portugal and the other "peripheral" economies. "What this has done is make it much more likely that Portugal is going to have to ask for finance," says David Owen of City of London firm Jefferies.


...

In the short term, the existential threat is the financial crisis. Dealing with that will have to involve reducing the debt burden on the three small states [Greece, Ireland and Portugal], and moving to recapitalise the banks in the periphery, and in the core," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform.

...

"I think Portugal is weeks away, and I think Portugal will be the trigger."
"