The head of the International Monetary Fund’s mission to Portugal said the country’s deficit targets had been revised to avoid further recession and unemployment.

Despite the economy being expected to slump further, the IMF says it still expects a recovery late in the year.

The Portuguese minister of finance says the GDP will drop 2.3% and that unemployment might reach 19%.

Minister of Finance Vítor Gaspar and other officials are to hold a press conference at the Ministry of Finance at 9.30am on Friday. This seventh quarterly review by the troika has been the longest so far, having begun on 25 February.

While the Portuguese government has said it is seeking to negotiate an extension of the deadline to carry out €4bn in spending cuts to 2015, financial daily “Jornal de Negócios” says this date had already been agreed with the so-called troika of international lenders in September.

Socialist Secretary-General António José Seguro sent a letter to the heads of the international bailout institutions in which he slams austerity and demands they send “senior politicians with decision-making capacity.”

Portugal is closer to determining cuts of €4bn following a cabinet meeting on Saturday. But the final decision will not be made until the country’s seventh assessment by its international lenders takes place later this month.

The IMF head in Lisbon does not understand the nature of the Portuguese crisis, says Socialist MP João Galamba reacting to Albert Jaeger’s interview published by Portugal Daily View.

Albert Jaeger, who heads the IMF office in Lisbon, is still upbeat regarding the country’s bailout programme but Portugal still needs to rebuild full credibility, he tells PDV in an exclusive interview.