‘New Portugal plan will be tougher than Ireland’s deal’

To ensure its future, Portugal will have to sign a new financial aid deal with the European Commission and European Central Bank in June 2014 when its current agreement with the IMF-ECB-EU troika of international lenders comes to an end.

Diário de Notícias writes that "the varying degree severity or softness of the new plan’s conditions will depend on the state of the country’s economy and the level of political stability," but the terms are likely to be easier for Ireland, due to its stage of economic recovery and stable political structure.

The newspaper adds

In the case of Portugal, this second programme no longer appears to be a precaution, but a necessity.