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Portuguese Left Bloc party warns gov't needs new strategy

Xinhua, May 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Portugal's Left Bloc party, which supports Prime Minister Antonio Costa's government, warned Costa a "new strategy" was required if the government wanted to commit to income recovery.

"Without a new strategy for the country, it is not possible to defeat austerity and commit to income recovery on which the parliamentary majority is based," the Left Bloc wrote in a motion revealed on Wednesday, directed at the government.

The party also reminded the prime minister of the new government's promises: no further cuts to salaries or to pensions and no new tax burdens on salaries, whether directly or through higher taxes on staple goods.

It highlighted that the country's public debt and the financial system continued to be the "greatest threats" to national accounts.

"Renegotiating public debt and carrying out a systematic intervention of the private bank, taking on public control, are essential processes to protect national resources, creating conditions for investment, employment and strengthening social welfare," it said in the letter.

So far, Costa has maintained an optimistic outlook on the country's economy, predicting a growth of 1.8 percent this year and a budget deficit cut to 2.2 percent.

However, international institutions warned that Portugal was unlikely to meet the targets set in its budget plan. On Tuesday, the European Commission said Portugal's budgetary deficit would be 2.7 percent this year.

Portugal's debt is still at 129 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the country had to undergo harsh austerity under a 78-billion-euro (90 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program it signed in 2011. The country exited that program in 2014. Endit