José Sócrates, Portugalâs prime minister, will announce tough new austerity measures on Thursday, including a âcrisis taxâ on companies and wages, to accelerate cuts in the countryâs gaping budget deficit. The new austerity package, which follows similar moves by Spain, Greece and Ireland, is being introduced under pressure from Portugalâs European Union partners for sharp budget cuts in support of a â¬750bn emergency plan to defend the euro. Angry trade union leaders called on Thursday for a âmobilisationâ against what they called âharsh and unjustâ measures, expected to include a 1 percentage point increase in value added tax to 21 per cent and increases of up to 1.5 percentage points in income tax. The increases, which are being called a âcrisis taxâ, are expected to include a 2.5 percentage point increase in corporate tax to 27.5 per cent. Politicians and public sector managers will also see their salaries cut by 5 per cent. Transfers to local authorities are expected to be reduced by £100m this year. The new measures are designed to reduce the budget deficit by an additional â¬2.1bn, from 9.4 per cent of gross domestic product in 2009 to 7 per cent this year and 2.8 per cent in 2013. Portugalâs original deficit target for this year was 8.3 per cent of GDP. Half of the additional reduction is due to be achieved by spending cuts and half by tax increases. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e4e9232-5e6d-11df-9266-00144feab49a.html Excellent news for European GDP growth. Can someone help out and take a look at EURO zone growth expectations in the next 5 years ?