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"Help to Portugal approved", headlines i, one day after the euro zone finance ministers approved a €78 billion euro bailout to Portugal, with an average interest rate of 5%. Until the 5 June elections, however, the country will receive 18 billion euros only, the minimum necessary for Portugal to take care of its “financial obligations”, the Lisbon daily notes, adding that Brussels and the IMF wish to see the future government's programme before they decide whether to release more money. IMF - responsible for a third of the bailout, 26 billion euros - gathers Friday, May 20, to green-light the Portugal aid program. The remaining two-thirds will be shared by the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism. Germany (15.5%), France (11.7%) and Italy (10.2%) combined account for most of the EU's support. Finland’s "Yes" to the bailout was established, i adds, on condition that Lisbon "encourages" institutional holders of Portuguese debt to keep it during the validity of the external help program (until 2013) - as a way to guarantee a faster return to the markets.
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