The Portuguese opposition leader, Socialist António José Seguro said “there are limits that cannot be passed”, reaffirming his opposition to a possible privatisation of the country’s state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) bank.

Seguro said he had told the prime minister “don’t dare privatise the CGD unless you want to have the Socialist Party and most Portuguese citizens against you, who will not accept the privatisation of the last state-owned bank in Portugal”.

Seguro was speaking at a dinner with supporters in Soure Saturday after weekly newspaper Expresso had published an article saying the government and the troika (International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission) had considered selling off 20% of CGD to institutional investors and 20% to the public in general.