Portugal's August exports flat

Portugal's exports were flat in August compared with the same month of 2012, while imports decreased, the country's National Statistics Institute (INE) said in a statement released on Wednesday. The country's exports amounted to 3.33 billion euros (about 4.5 billion U.S. dollars), and imports fell by 3.5 percent to 4.25 billion euros, it said. The latest statistics indicated an early sign of recovery which depends largely on Portugal's export. The country is struggling hard to pull it out of economic recession since it signed a 78-billoion-euro bailout agreement with the troika comprising the European Union, the International Monetaray Fund and the European Central Bank in May, 2011. The government's harsh austerity measures have been blamed for lingering recession and caused widespread protests across the country. (1 U.S. dollar = 0.74 euro)