The parliament of debt-ridden Portugal on Wednesday definitively approved a controversial austerity budget for 2012, even as protesters gathered in front of the parliament building, according to dpa. The budget was based on principles agreed upon with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which have granted Lisbona bailout worth 78 billion euros (105 billion dollars). It was pushed through with the votes of the two governing conservative parties, which have an absolute majority in parliament. Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar admitted the budget was "the most demanding in Portuguese history," but defended it as being necessary" to recover the trust of the Portuguese, of markets and of the international partners. " Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho is trying to cut the budget deficit from 9.8 per cent in 2010 to 4.5 per cent in 2012. -- SPA
