Portugal’s Response to the Euro Area Crisis: Fiscal Consolidation and Structural Reform

This is a transcript of a speech made by the Portuguese Finance Minister, Vítor Gaspar, on 5 December 2011 at Chatham House in London.

The minister outlined how the Portuguese government plans to achieve budgetary consolidation and financial stability in the coming years. He said that the government's adjustment programme will eliminate the imbalance in the public finances that has characterised the Portuguese economy since it entered the eurozone.