Lights in Lisbon’s finance ministry will burn late into the night this weekend as European Union, International Monetary Fund and Portuguese officials toil over the details of the country’s €80bn ($116bn) bail-out agreement.
Outside, the streets have been deserted since Thursday, when the caretaker government granted public administration workers an extra half-day holiday so they could leave early for the long Easter weekend.
By the time Portugal goes back to work on Tuesday, the plan to rescue its debt-ridden economy on condition of tough austerity measures and structural reforms should be close to conclusion.
As well as tax increases, wage cuts and a pensions freeze, the package is expected to include measures to liberalise labour, rent and energy markets to tackle Portugal’s problems of weak growth and low productivity.
For many Portuguese it is in fact the contrast between what they perceive as the strong work ethic of the north European officials leading the bail-out talks and Portugal’s more relaxed attitude to work and leisure that goes to the heart of the country’s economic woes.
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