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The most serious problem in Portugal is not debt, but the imbalance in its external accounts. Correct the deficit is possible in two or three years, but change the trend of the trade balance takes time,” he said in statements EFE.

For Ferreira, the bailout was “inevitable” precisely because this imbalance between purchases and sales abroad Luso country is so large that it prevents the economy grow, and without growth there is no capacity “to meet financial commitments that face Portugal.

He argued that foreign aid “will gain time to carry out necessary structural reforms” to be able to access liquidity at a lower interest rate. “

Another disadvantage of Portugal is its low economic growth during the first decade of the century, coinciding with the emergence of the euro, which stood at 6.47 percent according to IMF data, the second worst figure in a list 179 countries compiled by the agency.

Hence, analysts already speak of the last decade as the “lost decade” of the country luso, with some significant differences-and similarities-what happened in Japan in the 90′s.

“Productive sectors were stopped being competitive with the entry into the EU from Eastern Europe,” he added Ferreira.

Another key factor to understand the rescue of Portugal is its political situation, with a Socialist government without majority support in Parliament and only maintained thanks to the abstention of the main opposition group in key votes, such as budgets for 2009 and 2010.

The rigidity of its labor market, the high degree of aging of the population or the profound social differences between the middle and higher incomes are other problems that will face Portugal, but now under the auspices of Europe and the IMF.

After six months of continuous pressure of markets, Portugal finally decided to resort to outside help this week, a victim of sovereign debt crisis and its own structural weaknesses.

At this time, the Government has allocated Luso rescue the persistent rumors to mere speculative attack which also helped the credit rating agencies, and has based its defense on its economic indicators, while not positive, no worse than other neighboring countries.

The main reason put forward by investors to penalize high-interest debt of Portugal was the high public deficit of 8.6 percent of GDP in 2010, above the European average but lower than in countries like the United Kingdom ( 11.4%), USA (10.5%) and Spain (9.24%).

In a kind of vicious circle, the pressure at which underwent markets soared Portugal doubts aroused by their economic situation, which in turn did nothing but get worse as interest on its debt was increasing, -and therefore more expensive, making it more difficult, access to finance.

The theory that Portugal needed a bailout was encouraged on several fronts at home Luso, where dozens of analysts and experts gave it as a fait accompli through the local media since last January.

Even the main opposition group, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), called “not criminalize” the IMF earlier this year, while warning that elections would ask if they relied on foreign aid, a premonition that he has finally fulfilled almost to the letter.

Another argument put forward by the markets to justify its pressure is the unemployment rate Lusa, above the European average, with 11.2 percent, but lower than other EU member countries such as Spain (20.4 %), Lithuania (17.4%) and Latvia (17.3%).

According to Miguel Ferreira, a researcher at the Faculty of Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa specializes in public finance, the real “handicap” of Portugal is the high trade deficit, valued in 2010 at 20,000 million euros, equivalent to 8 percent of GDP.

In the economy there is a very important sub-theme, finance. Economics and finance are two closely related issues. Since the first is a general topic and the second a more specific, but always go hand in hand. Because in global terms it acts in an affordable way, but for this to implement the rest of the finances required to operationalize the system. This is reflected in the finances of the country, the fiscal management within the country will have to have controlled spending and you do reach a point where there is a fiscal deficit. Which would lead to a debt, the demand for credits abroad. The same applies to the regime and the emicion money. With the latest must take extreme care, since a emicion expansive, would inevitably lead to inflation. Which is often out of hand, mainly affecting the poorest people. Therefore, is that economics and finance can not be taken separately, but as an indivisible whole, to meet a simple fact that the meet the multiple needs of individuals and organizations.