Socrates Says Portugal Does Not Need Aid

Portugal does not need the help of the International Monetary Fund and no country has put pressure on Portugal to ask for help, Portuguese Prime MinisterJose Socrates said in an interview with the Daily News.

"There is no reason for the IMF to enter Portugal, because Portugal does not need that," said Socrates, according to Portuguese daily newspaper. "The government does not need that, you know exactly what to do and do not need someone to come and tell us what to do," Socrates said in the interview.

"Our problem is just a budget problem we have to correct, like other countries," Socrates told Diario de Noticias. "He who does not understand that what we are experiencing is a systemic issue, which refers to the euro, has understood nothing of this crisis," he said, the newspaper said.

"If anyone thinks that this is a problem in this country or not is to see how the sovereign debt crisis is affecting the euro," Socrates told the newspaper. "This is a problem in all European countries and we should do everything possible to fight together: all the European institutions, the Commission has played its role, the European Central Bank, which has played its role, and each countries that are playing their role. "

The European project is going through "a very big challenge", which is to defend the currency, Socrates told Diario de Noticias. All European leaders will commit themselves to defend its currency, Socrates said. "The way we have to defend is by meeting our budgetary targets, that's what we're doing," he said, the newspaper said.

Portugal this year will meet its goal of a budget deficit of 7.3 percent of gross domestic product, Diario de Noticias quoted Socrates as saying. The market is "slowly" to understand that Portugal is doing what it should do for your budget consolidation, the prime minister said in the interview.