End to recession? It’s technical...

News this week is that Portugal may only be “weeks away” from officially ending its recession.
Sounds too good to be true? The prediction comes from Portugal’s deputy prime minister, Paulo Portas, and he accepts “it’s technical”.
“If we register two consecutive trimesters of growth, it will mean that we are ending our technical recession,” were his actual words when he spoke in Parliament this week.
The government’s second-in-command admitted that although the issue may seem very “technocratic”, it’s “not a small thing”.
“Ending our technical recession means gradually ending our economic crisis and social divide,” Portas stated.
He went on by saying that the news will probably come as a disappointment to some – clearly referring to those who have been opposing government policies.
“It seems to me that they will be the only Portuguese citizens who will not feel a small glimmer of relief and hope for the end of the recession cycle – something that is especially important for the unemployed, for those who have been seeking employment for a long time and for those who fear for their jobs.”
The deputy PM also promised that the government will do “everything in its power” to make sure Portugal will never have to ask for outside help again.
Portas mentioned the country’s “tenuous but consistent” unemployment reduction and criticised members of the opposition for not putting political differences to one side.
“Although most of the unemployed feel the urge to join the protests, it is much more important to have the opportunity to find a job,” he said, two days after the ‘Que se lixe a Troika’ (Screw the Troika) demonstrations, and a week after the national wave of protests against the government’s new batch of austerity measures.
The leader of CDS-PP added that “the country’s sense of nation and the moderation with which the majority of Portuguese citizens have known how to face their difficulties cannot be emphasised enough”.