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It might be fun when it's just Greece (because we don't like Greece) but like predicted the rest of Europe will also be going down.
Portugal look like it's next.
Portugal look like it's next.
Next Up: Portugal
It looks like Greece will get its debt restructuring, which presumably delays its collapse by a few months. So now the spotlight shifts to the other functionally bankrupt eurozone countries which have no choice but to demand the same deal.
Portugal, by general consensus, is next in line. It hasnt blatantly lied about its problems the way Greece has. And it hasnt accumulated quite as much debt as Greece, though at 105% of GDP its government is still deep in the danger zone.
But it doesnt export much and runs truly massive trade deficits. In order to pay down its debt it will need to generate trade surpluses going forward, but without the ability to devalue its currency to make exports cheaper, theres no way to accomplish this.
It looks like Greece will get its debt restructuring, which presumably delays its collapse by a few months. So now the spotlight shifts to the other functionally bankrupt eurozone countries which have no choice but to demand the same deal.
Portugal, by general consensus, is next in line. It hasnt blatantly lied about its problems the way Greece has. And it hasnt accumulated quite as much debt as Greece, though at 105% of GDP its government is still deep in the danger zone.
But it doesnt export much and runs truly massive trade deficits. In order to pay down its debt it will need to generate trade surpluses going forward, but without the ability to devalue its currency to make exports cheaper, theres no way to accomplish this.
Lisbon Protests: More Than 100,000 Rally Against Austerity In Portugal
LISBON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - More than 100,000 people packed Lisbon's vast Palace Square on Saturday in the largest rally against austerity and economic hardships since the country resorted to an EU/IMF bailout last May, and organisers vowed to step up protests and labour action.
The mass rally occurred just four days before Portugal's international lenders were due to start the quarterly evaluation of the bailout implementation on Wednesday in the finance ministry building which overlooks the square by the river Tagus. They come amid concerns Portugal may need more bailout funds, if not a debt restructuring like Greece.
"We take this opportunity here to make our own evaluation on behalf of those who suffer daily," Armenio Carlos, head of the country's largest union, CGTP, told supporters as the crowd chanted: "IMF doesn't call the shots here!"
"We have to step up the struggle," he said. Carlos promised the next wave of rallies across Portugal as soon as on Feb. 29.
"The country needs to remove the rope from around its neck," he said, saying that Portugal should try to renegotiate its debt rather than impose more austerity, an argument he has made consistently.
Rest of article in Link.
LISBON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - More than 100,000 people packed Lisbon's vast Palace Square on Saturday in the largest rally against austerity and economic hardships since the country resorted to an EU/IMF bailout last May, and organisers vowed to step up protests and labour action.
The mass rally occurred just four days before Portugal's international lenders were due to start the quarterly evaluation of the bailout implementation on Wednesday in the finance ministry building which overlooks the square by the river Tagus. They come amid concerns Portugal may need more bailout funds, if not a debt restructuring like Greece.
"We take this opportunity here to make our own evaluation on behalf of those who suffer daily," Armenio Carlos, head of the country's largest union, CGTP, told supporters as the crowd chanted: "IMF doesn't call the shots here!"
"We have to step up the struggle," he said. Carlos promised the next wave of rallies across Portugal as soon as on Feb. 29.
"The country needs to remove the rope from around its neck," he said, saying that Portugal should try to renegotiate its debt rather than impose more austerity, an argument he has made consistently.
Rest of article in Link.
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