The Troika’s return to Portugal has conveniently been re-scheduled to after the 2015 State Budget has been agreed.
The Finance Ministry at last has given a date for the visit from Portugal's lenders which now will be in the second half of October, not the first half as previously advised. The new date will be "after the delivery of the proposed State Budget for 2015."
In a statement sent to newsrooms today, Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque stated that "the first post-programme evaluation will take place in mid-October, after the delivery of the State Budget for 2015 in the National Assembly," which is scheduled for October 15.
This clarification comes after the nation was told that the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) would be back in the 'first weeks of October' at a time when the Government would be putting the finishing touches to its 2015 Budget.
Even the European Commission spokesman said the visit would be before the budget was set, "the expectation is that the first mission of post-programme surveillance will take place in October. The dates are not yet confirmed, but the mission should occur in the first half of the month," according to Simon O'Connor, speaking in late August.
The media pushed the Finance Ministry on the actual dates for the Troika’s arrival in Lisbon but received no answer, until today when the arrival dates appear to have been stretched to avoid possible conflict and embarrassment. The last thing Passos Coelho needs is Troika involvement in the details of the 2015 Budget, 2015 being an election year and one in which a generous (unaffordable) budget is likely to be presented.
The Portuguese financial aid programme officially ended on May 17, 2015 but Troika visits will continue for at least two decades, or at least until a significant part of the €78 billion the Portuguese state has borrowed is repaid.
