Portuguese PM says to futher cut public spending to meet bailout requirement

　　Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said Sunday that his government will not increase taxes but will further reduce public spending to meet bailout requirement.

　　In a 20-minute statement, Passos Coelho said that Friday's Constitutional Court has "compromised Portugal's return to the markets and its ability to renegotiate interest on its loans as well as Portugal's image abroad, something that was built up successfully over the past 22 months."

　　The prime minister assured, "The government will not accept any further increase in taxes, which seems to be the solution that the Constitutional Court favors."

　　Tax increases "would severely jeopardize our chances of a timely recovery of the economy and job creation," he added.

　　Two days after the Constitutional Court ruled against cutting public sector pay in the 2013 state budget, the head of the Portuguese government stressed that he will not raise taxes to offset the Constitutional Court ruling but he will accelerate the process of reducing expenditure.

　　"We are left with the alternative of accelerating some aspects in public spending. To compensate for this imbalance, we have to put into practice this year measures to reduce spending in social security, health, education and public companies," he said, revealing that over the coming days, the ministries will begin to shave off operating costs.

　　"The country can not expect Europe to solve their problems," said the prime minister, who made assurances that he will "respect and comply with the decisions of the Constitutional Court but disagrees with the interpretation of the law along with many other institutionalists."

　　"The court decision puts the Portuguese negotiating position in fragile footing with Europe," he said, while arguing that in "exceptional times, extraordinary action is needed, something that was not understood by the Constitutional Court."

　　The court decision "runs against the objectives of the government and will have consequences for the country, at the same time as we have serious obstacles to hurdle in 2013."

　　On Sunday, Portugal's main opposition Socialist Party leader Antonio Jose Seguro continued to call for early elections.

　　"The only solution is to call for new elections," the Socialist leader reiterated in an interview with broadcaster SIC Noticias.

　　Portugal is implementing harsh austerity measures in return for the bailout of 78 billion euros (about 101 billion U.S. dollars) from the troika comprising the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. The government's move has triggered widespread protests across the country in recent months.

　　According to official figures, Portuguese economy will contract by 2.3 percent this year and its unemployment rate is expected to increase by 18.2 percent.

　　相關(guān)新聞：葡萄牙總理科埃略7日在總理府發(fā)表講話稱，葡政府不會繼續(xù)提高稅收，但將進一步加大力度削減公共支出，以滿足政府與由歐盟委員會、歐洲央行和國際貨幣基金組織組成的“三駕馬車”達(dá)成的救助條件。

　　科埃略說，由于葡憲法法院裁定政府2013年預(yù)算案中部分條款違憲，為實現(xiàn)政府與“三駕馬車”達(dá)成的減赤目標(biāo)，避免再次向其尋求國際救助，葡政府決定進一步減少在教育、衛(wèi)生、社會安全和國有企業(yè)等領(lǐng)域的公共開支。他還說，增加稅收將會對葡經(jīng)濟盡快復(fù)蘇和創(chuàng)造更多就業(yè)機會產(chǎn)生嚴(yán)重的不利影響。

　　科埃略說，由于憲法法院的裁決，葡經(jīng)濟將面臨更大困難。但他同時保證，政府將盡一切努力在與“三駕馬車”的有關(guān)談判中維護國家利益。

　　葡憲法法院5日宣布，葡政府2013年預(yù)算案中部分條款不符合憲法規(guī)定，因此，葡政府今年的財政支出預(yù)計將增加13億歐元，財政赤字占國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的比例將達(dá)到6.3%，這將給葡政府實現(xiàn)今年3月與“三駕馬車”達(dá)成的，到今年年底前將其財政赤字占國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的比例降至5.5%帶來更大困難。

　　2011年5月，葡與“三駕馬車”達(dá)成了780億歐元援助協(xié)議。為獲得援助，葡須按援助方案要求，實行財政緊縮和經(jīng)濟改革計劃，大力削減財政赤字，降低公共債務(wù)。