Portugal's foreign minister on Tuesday announced his resignation, one day after the finance minister stepped down over opposition to his austerity policies in the bailed-out country. Paulo Portas heads the conservative-nationalist CDS-PP, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's smaller coalition partner, without whose support the centre-right premier would lose his absolute majority in parliament. Portas said he disagreed with the choice of the successor of finance minister Victor Gaspar, who resigned Monday, saying he had failed to meet budget deficit targets and citing widespread opposition to his policies. The choice of Gaspar's successor could have opened "a different political and economic cycle," said Portas, some of whose party members have called for less austerity and more measures to boost growth.
