Portugal to pay the average rate of 5.1% on rescue loan (AFP)

Lisbon (AFP) - will Portugal pays an average interest rate of approximately 5.1 per cent on the 78 billion rescue plan euro ($110 billion) EU and the IMF agreed, said the Minister of finance.

"The interest rates depend of the conditions of the market," Fernando Teixeira dos Santos has been cited by the Lusa agency said in Brussels.

Under present conditions, the average rate would be between 5.0% in the first three years and 5.2 per cent in the following years, he said, adding that the Portugal was to receive a first payment of EUR 18 billion by the end of may or early June.

European Finance Ministers Monday supported by EU and the three-year IMF rescue 78 billion euros for the Portugal provided that Lisbon embarks on a major raft of compromise of public sale.

The Ministers agreed unanimously rescue Portugal, said a statement, making it the third country in the euro area within a year to receive a billion dollars-euro bailout after the Greece and the Ireland.

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