Portugal gasps as tax hikes announced

"Portuguese government opens door to new tax increase in 2011", headlines Diário de Noticias. The Lisbon daily, like much of the national press, is given over to Minister of Finance Fernando Teixeira dos Santos’ declaration in parliament that Portugal, one of the most fragile countries in the euro zone, must stick to its deficit reduction targets for 2010, and this will not be possible without additional tax revenues. The minister insisted that reducing the deficit by a staggering 4.6 per cent or 4.5 billion euros cannot be met by reducing government spending alone.