Good, Bad News in Euro Zone for Portugal, Slovenia, Poland

The euro zone took two (small) steps forward and one step back as rumors persisted that China might buy four to five billion euros ($5.3 billion to $6.6 billion) of Portugal’s debt, and as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave initial approval to an increase in Poland’s flexible credit line (FCL). However, late Wednesday Slovenia received the news that its outlook was downgraded from stable to negative by Standard & Poor’s.

The original report on Wednesday about China’s willingness to invest in Portugal, according to Reuters, appeared in business daily Jornal de Negocios. However, the paper did not cite sources, nor did China comment on the purported arrangement. Portuguese government officials were not available for comment, either, and the report remained unconfirmed on Thursday morning, although the euro had gained ground on the strength of the rumor.

On Thursday, the Portuguese Court of Auditors presented a report to the president of the Portuguese Parliament, Jaime Gama (left), concerning questions it had about the state of the Portuguese budget and payments to the country's social security program.