LISBON, Portugal, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said he would push for a third round of austerity budget measures although he did not provide specific details.
Socrates said in a phone interview he would push new budget proposals "to support growth and competitiveness," The New York Times reported Tuesday.
He said the new proposals would push Portugal's deficit to 4.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2011, making it "one of the lowest public deficits in Europe."
The International Monetary Fund, Socrates noted, recently released a report that said Portugal had taken more steps to correct its budget problems than most Western countries.
But some analysts fear Portugal will not actually accomplish its goals.
The government recently passed its second austerity budget, which trims the deficit by $6.85 billion in 2011.
The government said it was aiming to trim the public deficit to 7.3 percent of gross domestic product, down from 9.3 percent in 2009.
