World Crisis Online

European Central Bank Vice PresidentVitor Constancio said that it’s “very likely” that Portugal was the last euro nation to need external aid.

“I certainly think it is very likely and that’s what we hope markets will appreciate that Europe has created the mechanisms to deal with the problem and that some more vulnerable situations were dealt with,” Constancio said in an interview at an event in New York yesterday. “I hope that markets will think the same.”

He also said that it’s too early to tell when the ECB will phase out its non-standard measures, saying that policy makers “depend on the evolution of the situation and our assessments.” The ECB has “already dismantled part of them and they are temporary by nature.”

Constancio declined to comment on possible measures to deal with euro-region banks that are reliant on ECB liquidity, saying “when we have something to say, we will say it and not before.”