_Economy and Finance

Related News: Europe · Bonds Portugal Seeks EU Bailout, Joining Greece, Ireland By Joao Lima, Jim Silver and Anabela Reis - Apr 7, 2011 5:48 AM GMT+0900 Portugal has asked the European Union for a bailout after a domestic political crisis helped push borrowing costs to record levels, making it the third euro region country to seek a rescue.

Portugal: What Standard & Poor's Downgrade Means For The Country's Banks (00:20:59 min) Since March 28th, 2011, we have downgraded, by several notches, the five Portuguese banks that we rate to 'BBB-'. We have also lowered the short-term ratings to 'A-3'. The outlooks on four of the five banks are negative. One bank still remains on CreditWatch negative. What prompted our rating actions on the banks? In this podcast, Director Elena Iparraguirre explains our rationale, why we feel sovereign risk and banks' ratings are so tighthly correlated, and our main expectations for the Portuguese financial system. Listen

MARKETS |MARCH 30, 2011 Portugal Hints at Deficit Revision By PATRICIA KOWSMANN LISBON—Portugal's statistics agency said it plans to make "accounting changes" in a report to be submitted to the European Union's statistics agency by week's end, a revision that could indicate a wider 2010 budget deficit and which would further undermine the credibility of the country's embattled government.

MARKETS |MARCH 29, 2011, 3:31 P.M. ET S&P Downgrades Portugal, Greece By GEOFFREY T. SMITH LONDON—Rating agency Standard & Poor's on Tuesday delivered a damning verdict of the euro zone's new plans for resolving sovereign debt crises, downgrading two of the euro zone's most troubled member states.

Related News: Economy · Finance · Law · Eastern Europe · Europe · France · India & Pakistan · Latin America · U.K. & Ireland · U.S. · Opinion · Funds · Municipal Bonds · Matthew Lynn Portuguese Bailout Costs More Than Money Alone: Matthew Lynn By Matthew Lynn - Mar 29, 2011 8:00 AM GMT+0900 Bloomberg Opinion Is it 50 billion euros? Or perhaps 70 billion euros? The cost of bailing out Portugal varies according to who makes the calculation. No one will know the real price until officials from the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank tell us.

EUROPE NEWS|MARCH 24, 2011, 5:32 P.M. ET Portugal's Woes Turn Spotlight on Spain By MARCUS WALKER And JONATHAN HOUSE Portugal's admission that it will probably need a financial bailout raises a question that will shape the outcome of the euro zone's debt crisis: Is Spain next?