The NIC Fund investment outlook for the month of April 2011 is now out!
As for the fenced economies in Europe, Portugal is joining the likes of Ireland and Greece in asking the EU for direct intervention. Preliminary details point to a EUR80bn plan, most likely with a duration of three years, expected to include an earmark of EUR10bn to banks, along with stringent cuts in government spending (halting 1.96 s.d. white elephants such as the TGV) and an ambitious privatization program.
Unlike Ireland, where the banks’ real estate exposure dragged the state into a bailout, Portugal’s problem is a structural one, poised by several years of subpar growth and lack of political will to enact the needed measures (probably the unpopular ones) that would allow the country to compete effectively in an ever-changing and more dislocated world economy. It would be naive of us not to foresee hard times in the near-run. However, there is a long-run, where we hopefully will not be dead, neither for sure the future generations will, and for all these we think the trade-off is positive. Blame is on our side for saying we are looking forward to these prosper times.
Link for the full report with trade proposals for the next month right here.
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