In the spring of 2011, Portugal lost access to the markets at sustainable interest rates and had to request external assistance. Consecutive years of economic stagnation or low growth, a severe imbalance in public finances, a high external deficit, a banking system with imbalances, all amplified by the effects of the international financial crisis, made this scenario unavoidable.
The Economic and Financial Assistance Programme to Portugal was implemented from 17 May 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  2011 to 30 June 2014. A post-programme surveillance phase is currently in place. The purpose of my presentation is not to conduct a detailed analysis of the programme.