Desperate Measures

Because it worked so well for their neighbors:

Portugal announced sweeping new tax increases in an effort to keep the country’s faltering bailout programme on track amid a powerful public backlash against increased belt-tightening.

The new round of what the government described as “enormous” tax rises came as Lisbon revealed it would miss this year’s recently relaxed budget deficit target by the equivalent of 1.1 percentage points if it failed to take exceptional measures.

Vítor Gaspar, finance minister, said on Wednesday these tax measures, including an additional 4 per cent levy on 2013 earnings, would replace a planned “fiscal devaluation” involving deep pay cuts, which the government withdrew following mass anti-austerity protests.

Of course, copying the aforementioned neighbors might not be such a good idea...