Portuguese financial bailout talks begin
Lisbon, Portugal (AHN) – Portugal has begun discussions on details of its proposed bailout with officials from Europe and the International Monetary Fund.
The financial bailout could be worth as much as $115 billion and take a week to finalize.
Reports of the bailout talks caused investor nervousness that pushed the value of the euro down 1 percent in trading against the dollar.
When Portugal’s parliament rejected the latest austerity plan last month it resulted in the fall of Prime Minister José Socrates’ government.
However, the bailout will likely bring such austerity measures as an increase in Portugal’s VAT tax, which is already at 23 percent, along with more layoffs for civil servants and cuts in government employee pension plans.
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