In the mire

摘要

BEFORE unveiling Portugal's harshest budget in living memory this week, Vi-tor Gaspar, the finance minister, praised the hard work of the civil servants who had prepared it. The country's 700,000 public employees may think he has a funny way of showing his gratitude. Manuel Carvalho da Silva, head of CGTP-Intersin-dical, the biggest trade union confederation, says the budget measures, together with earlier cuts, will shrink public-sector take-home pay by 27% next year from 2010 levels. Excessive austerity, he says, is pushing Portugal ever deeper into recession.