Akhir 19, 1432 H/March 24, 2011, SPA -- Portugal was Thursday seen as drifting toward an international bailout despite assurances by political leaders that it could still be avoided in the wake of a government crisis sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates, dpa reported. Socrates' government "is the second government which is the victim of European Union (fiscal) adjustment programmes (after Ireland). It is not a good signal," a European Union diplomat said ahead of the opening of an EU summit in Brussels, where Portugal's crisis was expected to loom large. "The only thing that I am worried about is to defend the country, the European project and the single currency," Socrates told reporters as he arrived at the meeting. Socrates resigned Wednesday after parliament rejected his latest austerity package. President Anibal Cavaco Silva was widely expected to call early elections in two months' time. Lisbon might seek a bailout in the next few weeks, several Portuguese analysts said. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is the head of the Eurogroup panel of eurozone finance ministers, estimated the eventual bailout at 75 billion euros (105 billion dollars). The Portuguese government, however, continued to insist that a financial rescue could still be avoided. "The government will continue fighting against the eventuality of resorting to outside aid, because the Portuguese economy is able to resist," said Pedro Silva Pereira, a minister for the prime minister's office. Portugal would be the third eurozone country, after Greece and Ireland, to be bailed out by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
