Awwal 04, 1432 H / April 08, 2011, SPA -- Portugal is set to be granted an international loan package valued at around 80 billion euros (115 billion dollars) by mid-May, the European Union said Friday, while signalling that the bailout would come with very tough conditions, reported the dpa. "At this stage, on the basis of a very, very preliminary estimate, we can say that by and large the programme is likely to be in the magnitude of 80 billion euros," EU Monetary Affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said according to dpa. Rehn spoke after a meeting of eurozone and EU finance ministers in the Hungarian town of Godollo, where Portugal's request for aid - filed late Thursday - was first assessed. In a statement, EU ministers said they aimed to approve a loan package "by mid-May," but stressed that was conditional on Portugal's minority Socialist government agreeing on the terms of the assistance with the centre-right opposition. EU ministers said the two sides needed to commit to "ambitious" fiscal adjustments, liberalize the labour market, embark on wide-ranging privatisations and draw up plans "to maintain the liquidity and solvency" of Portuguese banks.
