国际英语新闻:Portugal protesters march against troika, austerity

LISBON, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of Portuguese protesters demonstrated against the troika of international lenders and the government's austerity measures in 18 cities across the country on Saturday.

The demonstrators marched from Entrecampos in downtown Lisbon, capital of Portugal along the Republic Avenue towards Alameda, their destination.

They chanted slogans opposing the troika -- the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank, and the government's implementation of the tough austerity measures.

The protesters angrily brandished placards when they reached the IMF office in Lisbon, demanding the government end the austerity policy at an early date.

"Owing to the government's implementation of austerity policy, many people have lost their jobs and many youths like me faced unemployment no sooner than their graduation from colleges. This made me puzzled and see no future," said a 19-year-old boy who identified himself as Simao.

The Portuguese also demonstrated in other cities including Porto, Coimbra and Braga in the North. Organized by the "Screw the troika" movement, demonstrations were also held in nearly 100 cities in other European countries like Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Britain and Germany.

Under a 78-billion-euro (101-billion-U.S. dollar) bailout agreement with the troika in May 2011, Portugal has been implementing a harsh austerity policy which has been blamed for a deepening recession and sparked widespread protests across the country in recent months.