EU's Barroso warns Portugal euro pullout would be tragedy

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned Portugal on Monday that leaving the euro currency would be a "tragedy".

Barroso, a former Portuguese prime minister, told local television channel RTP in an interview that leaving the euro was a "scenario that should not even be considered".

"That would be a tragedy for Portugal," he said, when asked about the proposals of some economists for the country to leave the euro currency.

He said Portugal had the ability to fulfil the economic conditions of a 78-billion-euro bailout plan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, putting it on course to return to economic growth.

"Portugal has all the conditions required to leave its difficult situation behind," Barroso said, adding that the centre-right majority coalition government fully backed the terms of the loan deal.

The government, which took office last month, has pledged to rapidly enact the deep austerity measures included in the bailout and has announced a one-off tax to boost revenue that goes beyond the requirements of the loan deal.

Barroso said that finding solutions to the euro zone debt crisis had been difficult at times because of the challenge of reaching agreement among all euro currency members.

"There are specific (economic) problems in countries, such as those in Portugal, but there are also problems with the joint response," he said.