Country Profile
Portugal officially the Portuguese Republic is in South Western Europe and is the Western most Country of Europe.The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.The Atlantic Archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal.
Capital Lisbon
Currency Euro
Official Language Portuguese
Population 10.57 Million(2011 Estimate)
Mass protests in Portugal over austerity cuts -March 2,2013
government-imposed austerity measures aimed at lifting the ailing country out of recession.
Tens of thousands of people filled a Lisbon boulevard during Saturday's protests and headed to the finance ministry carrying placards saying "Screw the troika, we want our lives back".
The troika is a reference to the European Commission(EC), the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the European Central Bank(ECB), the lenders behind the country's financial bailout.
Many protesters were singing a 40-year-old song linked to a 1974 popular uprising known as the Carnation Revolution.
Portugal is expected to suffer a third straight year of recession in 2013, with a two percent contraction. The overall jobless rate has grown to a record 17.6 percent.
Portuguese rallied against austerity measures
Tens of thousands of Portuguese rallied in about 40 cities on Saturday Sep 15,2012 against government’s austerity policies and the international lenders that demand the budget reforms.
The protests were aimed in particular Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s plan to raise workers’ social security contributions from 11 to 18 % next year, while lowering employer contributions from 23.75 to 18 %
Portugal’s main opposition Socialist Party withdrew its support on Thursday for the 2013 budget proposal. The government still has a majority to approve the legislation to raise taxes on income and capital, cut pensions and expand a privatization programme.
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