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Porutugal to be out of technical recession soon: deputy PM
Last Updated: 2013-10-29 07:11 | Xinhua
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Portuguese Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas on Monday said statistics on the bailed-out country's economy in the third quarter show that it could see an exit from a technical recession in a few weeks time.

The deputy prime minister and leader of the People's Party, the junior partner of the coalition government made the remarks at a joint coalition conference in parliament before the start of a debate on the 2014 draft budget.

"Portugal is possibly a few weeks from knowing that it is out of a technical recession that lasted something like 1,000 very difficult days," said Portas.

He said that the possible economic growth for two quarters in a row indicated that Portugal would be out of a technical recession, and gradually the economic crisis.

The deputy prime minister said that recent economic statistics show that Portugal's economy had turned to recovery with continuous unemployment decrease and export increase, indicating the country's most difficult time has come to an end.

In early October, the troika comprising the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank revised their 2013 economic growth forecast for Portugal from the previously estimated contraction of 2.3 percent to 1.8 percent.

Portugal has been implementing a tough austerity policy which has been blamed for the deepening of recession in the country and has also sparked strong discontent among the public under a 78-billion-euro (101-billion-U.S. dollar) bailout agreement with the troika in May 2011.

To meet the deficit reduction target of 4 percent of its GDP, Portugal's 2014 draft budget, which is waiting for approval by the Parliament, has to include more austerity measures such as cutting of pensions and salaries of civil servants. The budget has sparked fresh protests in the country after it was made public on Oct. 15.

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