The debt crisis in Europe continues to reach the headlines, this time it comes from Portugal:
The IMF (International Monetary Fund) has recently approved to provide 36.8 billion US dollar to Portugal as part of rescue packaged.
The total rescue package will be 111 billion US dollar that the European finance ministers had approved earlier this week; out it the IMF will provide nearly one third of the funds.
Portugal had suffered problems in raising funds in the market resulting in its rapid rise in government bonds yields that reached this week 9.22% – an increase of 0.55 percent points since the beginning of the month and 4.65 percent points since the beginning of 2011.
This news is probably among the reasons that drove the Euro to US dollar conversion rate down by 1.03% to reach 1.416 at the closing of the week’s trade. This was a change in direction as the USD depreciates against the EURO throughout most of the week up until yesterday. During May the Euro to US dollar conversion rate lost 4.4% of its value.
For more on this subject:
- Is Portugal next in line for a bailout?
- Euro Area Construction output fell in March
- EU economic summit – highlights