Euro debt crisis abates after Portugal bond success

THERE were signs that the euro crisis may be abating as demand for Portuguese 10-year bonds rose yesterday, prices fell and the European Commission announced a comprehensive plan to deal with the sovereign-debt crisis.

Portugal had been under pressure to look for loans from the EU/IMF bailout fund but that pressure subsided, at least for now, after their borrowing costs for 10-year bonds fell below what they paid in November and demand increased as they raised €1.24 billion.

The news was greeted with relief in Brussels where the Commission is preparing proposals to make the EU’s bailout fund go further and allow countries to borrow from it before they run into trouble with the markets.