Portuguese political crisis threatens Euro recovery

A political crisis in Portugal threatens to plunge the euro back into crisis just as experts were cautiously predicting that EU economies would start growing again next year.

ECB member Jorg Asmussen warned that the economic situation remains fragile, and that governments need to stick to their commitments, cutting back budgets.

He and finance ministers meeting in Nicosia praised Ireland and Portugal, describing them as success stories while IMF head Christine Lagarde said they proved implementing their tough programmes worked.