Today (12-March-2014) in Lisbon, Minister of State Brian Hayes addressed a conference examining the key issues in the run up to Portugal's much anticipated Bailout Exit.
This conference, organised by the Portuguese business daily, Jornal de Negocias, was opened by Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho and also addressed by IMF Head of Mission for Portugal and Greece, Poul Thomsen.
The mode of Portugal's exit next May is currently the subject of intense speculation and discussion in Government, business and media circles. The conference duly placed a particular focus on the pros and cons of a Precautionary Credit line, deeper integration within the Eurozone, and sources of sustainable, job rich growth. Given Ireland's recent successful exit, there is almost daily media reference and much interest in Portugal to what is referred to as "a saída à Irlandesa" (the Irish situation).
Minister Hayes explained the reasoning behind the decision on how to exit the bailout as primarily a sovereign decision, "for Ireland it was about building on the progress made within the Programme, getting back to the markets, and getting on with the business of recovery."
In his remarks from the podium following his address Minister Hayes noted both Ireland and Portugal's success to date in implementing demanding programme actions,
"Having gone through these difficult years of austerity, its now time to improve domestic demand across the euro zone by enhancing credit lines and encouraging spending. While keeping inflation and especially wage price inflation under control is understandable, much more needs to be done to encourage the euro zone domestic economy"
Also discussed were Irish actions, post-Troika, to move beyond crisis mode and focus more on stimulating recovery in the domestic economy. Of interest to the conference audience were concerted actions to increase the volume and diversity of non-bank funding for enterprise and business expansion which include the Silicon Valley Bank lending facility, the China-Ireland Fund, and the newly created Dell Bank in Dublin.
Minister Hayes also undertook, as part of his itinerary, a series of bilateral meetings at the Portuguese Ministry of Finance, with a cross-party delegation of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget, Finance & Public Administration, and at the think-tank Instituto Amaro Costa.