The bailout fund can cope with Portugal, but eyes are on Spain, a far bigger economy. Greece was struggling to repay debt. Ireland's banking system dragged the economy into a bailout. Portugal's problems were slightly more nuanced. Its government, led by Socrates, had been trying to introduce austerity measures to keep it from needing aid.
The measures were not passed, and last month Socrates resigned. Amid the political limbo, the cost of its borrowing shot up, meaning it was unable to raise enough money it could afford by itself. Initially, reaction to the bailouts were positive. However, markets remain sceptical about the ability of Greece and Ireland to fund themselves on an ongoing basis. They need to repay the loans while also trying to cut the costs of running their countries.
The decision to exit the bailout without a security net is a major success for the government, which has won over investor confidence by sticking to the harsh austerity and reforms required by the bailout. But economic activity turned positive again last year and bond yields have fallen sharply this year, boosting optimism that Portugal would be able to exit the bailout and return to financing itself in bond markets. The country passed the last review by creditors of its economy under the bailout last week, putting it on track to exit the plan without needing further help.
This crisis exploitation constitutes a tactic of depoliticisation, in which both the material constraints and the discourse used to frame them are employed to construct imperatives around a narrow selection of policy alternatives.
Our findings testify to the decline in the transparency and openness of policy-making that took place in the last decade, both of which are fundamental dimensions of the quality of established democracies. In our view, the reforms implemented during the crisis were highly salient and should be at the centre of public debates. Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the Euro Crisis in the Press blog nor of the London School of Economics.
Email Address. Euro Crisis in the Press. Skip to content. By Catherine Moury and Adam Standring During the Eurozone crisis, states receiving a bailout were required to implement spending cuts and other reforms in return for financial assistance. This entry was posted in Portugal and tagged austerity , Bailout , domestic policy agenda , Eurozone crisis , portugal. Bookmark the permalink. Subscribe via Email Email Address Subscribe. Search for:. For 4 weeks receive unlimited Premium digital access to the FT's trusted, award-winning business news.
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