Awwal 04, 1432 H / April 08, 2011, SPA -- Portugal has made an official request for a multi-billion-euro financial bailout, EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Hungary, as dpa reported. "We received a formal request from the Portuguese government for financial assistance from the EU and the IMF last night," Rehn told reporters on his way into a meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates had announced on Wednesday his country's decision to ask the European Union for a rescue loan to avert a looming default on its sovereign debts. Portugal now faces the prospect of another wave of harsh austerity measures, which several finance ministers told reporters would be a precondition for an financial bailout. "I can say on the (European) Commission's behalf that we are ready to begin negotiations for a full programme of...economic reforms," Rehn said The size of the rescue package will be contingent on the forthcoming negotiations, Rehn said. Portugal's finance minister, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said only that to name a possible figure would be "premature".
