Portugal Approves the Stability and Development Pack

The Portuguese government is mainly based on “cost reduction” to stabilize the public finances, according to the stability and development program approved by the government. The stability and development, which was generally at an extraordinary meeting of the government, will be “the subject of a dialogue with political parties and social partners” as noted by government representatives. On Monday, the Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates began talks with opposition parties and social partners on measures that provide the stability and development program for 2010-2013, which will be presented later to the European Commission.

While the country faces strong pressure to consolidate public finances, the Portuguese government wants this program to convince its commitment to reduce the government deficit in 2010 by 8.3%. The content of this program was not disclosed but according to the media in Portugal, besides the measures which are already known, including wage freeze for civil servants and the reduction of capacity in the public sector, the government is also expected to resume its program of privatization, which was suspended due to economic crisis.