LISBON: Portugal needs political stability to complete its aid programme but must also focus on bouncing back quickly from recession, the minister appointed to coordinate economic policy said on Tuesday.
Paulo Portas, who heads junior coalition party CDS-PP, resigned as foreign minister last week, deepening a political crisis that threatened both the government and the 78-billion-euro bailout that Portugal is due to exit next year.
A frequent critic of the austerity measures forced on Portugal under the terms of the rescue, Portas quit last Tuesday in protest at the appointment of Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque as finance minister in place of Vitor Gaspar, who had resigned the previous day.
But on Saturday Prime Minister Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho named Portas as deputy prime minister and coordinator of economic policy in an effort to defuse the crisis.
In his first public comments since then, Portas said conditions for political stability were in place, which were "important not only for the government but also for the conclusion of the aid package."
He said the priority now was to move towards a "cycle that boosts the economy, companies, job creation and social cohesion."
Austerity under the bailout has sent Portugal into three years of recession and pushed unemployment to record levels near 18 percent.
Portas spoke to journalists after talks with President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who is meeting with political parties, business leaders and labour groups to ensure the crisis can be overcome.
Cavaco Silva has the constitutional power to dissolve parliament and call new elections.
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