IMF Warns Portugal Off Further Tax Hikes

The government is already milking the country dry

Portugal should not adopt any more tax hikes in its attempts to cut the budget deficit, an International Monetary Fund representative said Wednesday, following large-scale protests in the bailed-out country.

"I would not like to see any more tax hikes," Abebe Selassie, head of the IMF mission to Portugal, told the dailies Diario de Noticias and Jornal de Noticias. …

The government has drastically raised income tax. It also announced increases in taxes on capital income, property, luxury goods, tobacco and financial transactions. The government has faced constant street protests against its austerity policies, as well as a general strike on November 14.