By By Ken Hanly Apr 24, 2014 in Business Lisbon - Portugal is poised to exit the $108 billion bailout program in May. Politicians are stressing the positive aspects of the exit but austerity programs have left deep scars both in the economy and on the populace. "In a sign of the review's forward-looking bias, the inspectors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund held one of their first meetings with the main opposition Socialists. Opinion polls put the party on track to win next year's general election." While the Socialists agree the fiscal discipline has to continue they reject any further austerity measures. The ruling center-right coalition government intends to continue the austerity programs this year and next together with large tax hikes and spending cuts that are already in place. The Portuguese people are left with decreased living standards, lower pensions and wage cuts over the last three years. Portugal follows Ireland and Spain in exiting the bailout. Portugal has already been saving to cover financial need for next year so that it will not need to borrow more funds. “There is a great need in Brussels and Berlin and other capitals to present Portugal and Ireland as success stories. They will claim that their reforms in Portugal have been a success- well, they haven’t, they have destroyed the society and economy,” However, economic growth actually increased in the first quarter of 2014 at 0.5 per cent which is at least a change from the regular decreases earlier. Exports have expanded by 4.6 per cent during the period and even tourism was up 4.2 per cent. On the downside unemployment still is at around 15 per cent. However, over a third of young people are unemployed at 35 per cent. “You have to remember, even if Portugal does a clean exit from this bailout program next month, it still has a lot an awful lot of problems. Its running a budget deficit of over 4 percent which means it has to make 16 billion worth of cuts by the end of 2015, The depression is not only economic, it's also a psychological depression”. In 2012 alone over 120,000 left Portugal for neighboring countries where there were more jobs. Tavares said that over one per cent of Portugal's population has left including the most skilled and educated. Nevertheless a Both Germany and the EU are praising the "clean exit" from the EU, IMF, and ECB bailout. The last quarterly evaluation is now under way. The inspectors are even preparing for the future:While the Socialists agree the fiscal discipline has to continue they reject any further austerity measures. The ruling center-right coalition government intends to continue the austerity programs this year and next together with large tax hikes and spending cuts that are already in place.The Portuguese people are left with decreased living standards, lower pensions and wage cuts over the last three years. Portugal follows Ireland and Spain in exiting the bailout. Portugal has already been saving to cover financial need for next year so that it will not need to borrow more funds. Portuguese member of the European Parliament Rui Tavares said:However, economic growth actually increased in the first quarter of 2014 at 0.5 per cent which is at least a change from the regular decreases earlier. Exports have expanded by 4.6 per cent during the period and even tourism was up 4.2 per cent.On the downside unemployment still is at around 15 per cent. However, over a third of young people are unemployed at 35 per cent. Tavares warned:In 2012 alone over 120,000 left Portugal for neighboring countries where there were more jobs. Tavares said that over one per cent of Portugal's population has left including the most skilled and educated.Nevertheless a recent bond auction was very successful with the maximum number being bought at record low yields of 3.575 per cent and Portugal's credit outlook has been changed to positive from negative. More about Portugal, Portugal debt crisis, portugal austerity program More news from Portugal Portugal debt crisis portugal austerity p...