German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble (Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA/Lusa)

Germany assured Portugal informally it is open to a renegotiation of the country’s bailout deal. The news surfaced after an indiscreet camera recorded a conversation between the Portuguese and German ministers of finance during the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Thursday, 9 February.

“We will be ready to do it“, the German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble told his Portuguese counterpart Vítor Gaspar during a private conversation . “That’s much appreciated”, answered the Portuguese official.

The comments, caught on tape by the Portuguese broadcaster TVI, express the willingness of the largest economy of the eurozone to relax Portugal’s bailout obligations at a time when the economic deterioration in Europe makes it more difficult for the country to return to the markets in 2013, as scheduled in the agreement signed in May 2011 – as a growing number of economists, analysts and newspapers have been speculating whether Portugal will be needing a second bailout soon.

The European and domestic economic conditions themselves might dampen the country’s bailout, as Portugal is due to contract 3.1% in 2012, according to the winter bulletin of the Portuguese central bank, Bank of Portugal, released in January.

“We have made quite substancial progress in the European framework”, Gaspar said. “Yes, we have”, he stressed, as his German counterpart agreed.

If an adjustment proves necessary, Schäuble said, it would only take place after “a substancial decision on Greece” takes place. “That is key”, the german minister emphasised.

Greece has been struggling amid political and social turmoil to implement the harsh austerity measures demanded by the international creditors in exchange of a €130bn second bailout, whose first tranche is badly needed to save the country from bankruptcy before March.

“As long as… my fellow members of parliament and public opinion in Germany don’t believe that our decisions are serious… because they don’t believe in our decisions about Greece”, Wolfgang Schäuble said.

Gaspar: Relief of Bailout targets not on the table

Vítor Gaspar has already commented on the release of the conversation by the Portuguese media: According to newspaper Público, the Portuguese minister of finance said Schäuble’s assurance was “nothing new“, and that the German minister was only reaffirming what was both his and the EU stance on helping countries that fulfilled their bailout commitments - if Portugal follows the bailout programme, the targets could be readjusted, given the deterioration of the European and domestic conditions.

“It’s not a matter of a concrete, specific hypothesis under consideration at this moment in time, but rather a security mechanism for developments which are not foreseeable today”, Gaspar said.

“We won’t ask for more money or more time, we will comply with the adjustment programme, we will be capable of fulfillling this crucial commitment for the sucess of the eurozone“, the Portuguese minister said after the Eurogroup meeting, describing his German counterpart’s words as a demonstration of “friendliness and appreciation for the compliance efforts made by Portugal in implementing its adjustment programme”.