Portugal has reached agreement with the EU and IMF on a three-year, €78bn bailout loan, caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said.
Mr Socrates' government collapsed last month, sparking a sharp rise in borrowing costs which forced Lisbon into becoming the third eurozone country to seek a bailout after Greece and Ireland.
Mr Socrates hailed the package as a victory, saying it included more lenient terms than those imposed on Greece and Ireland.
The deal gave Portugal more time to meet budget goals which it had previously agreed to.
‘The government has obtained a good deal. This is a deal that defends Portugal,’ Mr Socrates said.
He provided few details of what terms the bailout included, saying only ‘there are no financial assistance programmes that are not demanding.’
Mr Socrates said Portugal would now need to cut its budget deficit to 5.9% of gross domestic product this year, compared with the government's previous goal of 4.6%.
The deficit will have to be cut to 4.5% in 2012 and 3% in 2013.
Officials from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank have been in Lisbon for almost a month to hammer out the agreement with Portugal.
Mr Socrates said the agreement still has to be presented to opposition parties.
A new government after the June election will have to enact the terms of the bailout.
Mr Socrates said the loan agreement would not require any changes to the constitution.
The deal is expected to be approved at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in mid-May, in time for the EU rescue fund to raise money for Portugal by 15 June, when the country needs to meet a bond redemption of €4.9bm.
