In a press conference Wednesday, outgoing Prime Minister Socrates confirmed Lisbon had already asked the EU Commission for a bailout.

In a position statement, Passos Coelho, the leader of the opposition party — Social Democratic Party (PSD) — noted the socialist government was too late in calling for a bailout.

Coelho is expected to become Portugal’s next Prime Minister in the upcoming elections set for June 5.
Early in the day — according to the Associated Press — Portugal had managed to raise, about euro 1 billion ($1.4 billion) in a Treasury bill sale as a last attempted to avoid the bailout option.

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