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Portugal announced on Friday measures to further savings in order to give greater flexibility to achieve its target of reducing its budget deficit this year to 4.6% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos listed a series of measures including a reduction in spending on health and welfare and delayed infrastructure projects.

"As a precaution, the building measures (public accounts) will be strengthened, which will result in an additional impact of 0.8% (GDP)," he told reporters just hours before a summit of Euro area devoted to ways to prevent the debt crisis.

The minister added that the Portuguese Government would seek to strengthen structural reforms, particularly the labor market for which it intends to reduce redundancy.

Portugal plans to reduce its budget deficit to 3% of GDP next year, then 2% in 2013.

Financial markets have little reaction to these ads.

"I think it shows that Portugal is still trying desperately to prove he has the political will to implement these painful steps," said Colin Ellis, chief economist at BVCA, London.

"However, the interest rate it pays on the market are unsustainable and there is always some risk that he will need assistance at some point," he adds.

PERFORMANCE RECORD

The pressure of the bond market has increased this week on Portugal for that country resolves to be the third in the eurozone to resort to international assistance, after Ireland and Greece.The performance of the paper 10 years was increased to a record since the inception of the euro, above 7.5%, a level considered unsustainable Lisbon.

European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Olli Rehn welcomed the additional measures announced by Portugal, believing that they are sufficient to achieve the deficit target of 4.6% of GDP, they will help the country regain control of its debt and it will end the uncertainty.

Olli Rehn has also estimated that these measures will open the way for increased lending capacity of the European Financial Stability (FESF) and an expansion of the missions of the European emergency fund.

Despite his insistence that he did not need help, Portugal urged European Union leaders to establish a set of measures to resolve the debt crisis.

The euro zone leaders meeting Friday in Brussels should seek an agreement to limit future sovereign debt, but they should keep the pressure on Portugal for the latter to put its finances.

If a consensus emerges on Friday, a formal agreement can not be sealed without the approval of Twenty-Seven, first at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and at a European summit on 24 and 25 March , where the answer "global" to the crisis of debt in preparation since the beginning of the year must be submitted.

Green MP Yves Cochet proposes capping the gasoline liter to 1.50 for the 20% poorest households.

The Greens MP Yves Cochet Wednesday proposed to establish an interim basis in 2011 a social tariff on fuel to cope with soaring gasoline prices have reached record highs last week.

"Since there are already social tariffs for the kilowatt electric and cubic meters of gas, there could be for 20% of households, the most disadvantaged social prices per liter of petrol, no more than 1.50 euro for example, even if prices rise at the pump, "said MP in the corridors of the National Assembly.

This could apply for year 2011, "he added. "Prices at the pump will rise, we must protect the most disadvantaged of our citizens," he judged."This can only be tentative because futures prices for all energy will go up," he said.

The price of gasoline in France last week beat their record highs set in June 2008, the super unleaded 95 exceeding the threshold of 1.50 euro per liter inclusive of all taxes.

The Economy Minister Christine Lagarde has announced it will bring together all stakeholders in the sector fuels by the end of March.

Harris Interactive reveals Mediapart drew its respondents with the opportunity to earn 7000 euros via a lottery. One form of prohibited rémunértion, depending on the site. Marine Le Pen, president of FN, at a press conference in Nanterre, on 1 September 2010.

The panel of French used by Harris Interactive for placing his study Sunday Marine Le Pen (FN) in the lead in voting intentions in the first round of presidential elections was "paid", says Tuesday 8 marsle Mediapart site (paying section). According to Mediapart, Jean-Daniel Levy "is forced to recognize" that his institute practices a form of "compensation." "To attract customers and motivate them to respond to its survey, conducted over the Internet, the Institute has organized a competition and dangled a reward. In the end, 7,000 euros were donated to one of some 1600 members panel, "it added.

The Institute recognizes its share of "incentives" for financial loyalty. Contacted by AFP, the director of the department's opinion institute, Jean-Daniel Levy, has formally denied any "compensation". On his website, Harris Interactive recognizes that "sets up an 'incentive' (financial incentives, ie) to motivate them to meet all of respondent profiles. "Without this 'incentive', it has been noted, there is a risk of over-representation of more" involved ". "Harris Interactive favors the system of participation in a competition (controlled by bailiff) to win prizes (bank checks) via a lottery," said the institute again.

Another political pollster, Frederic Dabi, FIFG, also admits that his institute compensate people for time spent responding."For that, they enrolled in a loyalty program, which amounts to 10 cents a questionnaire, which is extremely symbolic," he said. "We do not want to build relationships with them mercantile.

After that Sunday which was the effect of a thunderclap in the political class, Harris Interactive published Tuesday in Le Parisien two new polls placing the president of the National Front led the first round of the presidential candidates irrespective PS (Martine Aubry but Strauss-Kahn and Francis Holland) against Nicolas Sarkozy.

The British banking system returns to growing imbalances that could trigger another financial crisis, said Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) Mervyn King, in an interview published Saturday by the Daily Telegraph.

Asked about the possibility of another financial crisis, he replied: "Yes. The problem is still there. (…) Imbalances rise again."

He also criticized the research on short-term bonuses awarded in banks. "We gave bonuses for bankers to behave as they did. This must change," he said.

It found that manufacturing groups behaved in a more "moral" than the banks."They care deeply about their workforce, their customers and, importantly, they are proud of their products. The banks have no sense of long-term relationship."

British banks reacted strongly to these attacks, ensuring their activities have made safer.

"The banking industry acknowledges that some elements have acted badly during the crisis.But since then the sector has been radically reformed, "he retorted in a statement Angela Knight, who heads the Association of British bankers.

Faced with the discontent of the British taxpayer, who has borne the cost of bank bailouts RBS and Lloyds, which takes a dim view of the increase in bankers' bonuses, the British political class is showing more and more aggressive in measures taken against the banks.

In this context, the British finance minister George Osborne has announced a major reform of the sector, which will give the BoE in 2012 to control bank regulation.

The Paris Bourse opened higher on Friday in the wake of the Asian markets and Wall Street, recent economic indicators, better than expected, sparking a glimmer of optimism before publication at 14.30 U.S. figures for employment of February.

At 9:12, the CAC 40 progressed from 0.29% to 4072.47 points. For the week, the benchmark index of the Paris market remains stable (+0.05%).

As for values, Hermes was up 2.41% to 155 euros after signing the whole of 2010 increased by over 44% of operating profit and took full advantage of the luxury market rally boosted by the engine and Asian tourists.

In contrast, Legrand shows the largest decrease of the SBF 120, yielding 4.64% to 28.885 euros.Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) and Wendel announced the joint sale, as part of an accelerated placement of 40 million shares, or 15% stake in specialist electrical and digital infrastructure of the building.

Other major European markets also opened higher in London and Frankfurt clinching respectively 0.26% and 0.45%. Of the European indices, the EuroStoxx 50 wins and 0.26% Eurofirst 300 rose 0.18%.

The euro remains stable against the greenback (-0.05%) to 1.3953 dollar.

A barrel of U.S. light crude ahead by 0.74% to 102.66 dollars.

Adidas reported Wednesday its sales target for 2011 based on improved consumer confidence and growth in emerging markets.

The second global sporting goods company has also proposed a dividend exceeds expectations for 2010, to 0.80 euros per share.

Adidas has registered under the 2010 operating profit of 894 million euros and a turnover of 11.99 billion.

Analysts polled by Reuters expected operating profit of 893 million euros and sales of 11.67 billion.

Adidas expects sales growth at the top of a single-digit range in 2011, when he previously projected growth in the mid-single digit range.

The Minister of Ecology has set up the Observatory of fuel poverty. It will assess the problem and suggest ways of prevention. Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, at a press conference devoted to the optical fiber 7 April 2009.

A ten French, 6.5 million, "suffered from the cold in January as poorly heated," said Tuesday the Minister for Ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (NKM) to mark the installation of the Monitoring of fuel poverty. "We must act on the causes of insecurity" to better help the 3.4 million households spending more than 10% of their resources on their energy bills, "said Ms Kosciusko-Morizet at a press conference .

The Observatory of fuel poverty, created a year after a report on the subject, will mainly aim to "measure the evolution of this phenomenon and identify the areas most affected."Chaired by Jerome Vignon, also president of the National Observatory of Poverty and Social Exclusion (Opes), it will also "monitor public and private financial aid made insecure households.

The association CLCV said in a statement that "consumers do not need yet another observatory measuring the phenomenon of precarious, but practical ways to prevent them." CLCV including claims, rather than "increase social tariffs", the creation of "an overall solvency of households, which would apply to all essential services (water, electricity, gas, internet). "This single device would replace all existing social tariffs, which would simplify things and could be cheaper to finance," said CLCV.