Portuguese PM optimistic about bailout exit

Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho on Thursday expressed cautious optimism about the country's bailout exit, saying that the country was in right conditions to exit the bailout program. "The effort we've taken all this time didn't indicate that the country will have to find help abroad," the prime minister told national broadcasters TVi and TSF in a live interview. The country's program is on track and its economy is now more "open" and "export-orientated," he said. Since May 2011, under the 78-billion-euro bailout plan with the troika of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, Portugal has been implementing a tough austerity policy. The Portuguese parliament also adopted a tough 2014 draft budget on Nov.26 to save the country some 3.9 billion euros through spending cuts and tax hikes, hoping for a successful exit from the bailout program in June 2014. Though Portugal's economy is expected to shrink 1.8 percent for the year of 2013, the country's GDP expanded by 0.2 percent in the third quarter, showing continued growth -- a sign that the country might be pulling out of recession. October saw a fall in unemployment for the seventh consecutive month. Reforms and cutbacks introduced with the aim of reducing the public deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2014 appear to be paying off. However, Passos Coelho expressed caution. "I cannot guarantee the country will not find itself in a situation similar to the one in 2011," when Portugal had to seek bailout. In the next few months, the Portuguese government, the troika and the Eurogroup -- countries using the euro -- would discuss the country's bailout exit in June 2014, he said.