AN EU OFFICIAL has said that a preliminary deal on Portugal’s EU bailout could be finalised in the coming days, saying that experts from the European Commission, ECB and IMF were close to agreeing on its terms.

AP cited local rumours that a deal could be due by Wednesday, though an EU official it spoke to said it would be “optimistic” timing for the deal to have been done by then.

Passage of the deal would be dependent, the EU official added, on the deal being approved by all of Portugal’s main political parties; the country is in the middle of a general election campaign after the government lost a crucial vote aimed at avoiding the bailout.

Reuters reported similar levels of progress, though it added the caveat of an official from the European Commission who said that agreement may not be reached on cutting targets for Portugal’s potential repayments.

Greece has attempted to capitalise on the discussions, yesterday unveiling an ambitious plan aimed at fighting tax evasion in a bid to gain market confidence and curry further favour with the troika.

Finance minister George Papaconstantinou said his country was losing between €10bn and €15bn every year through tax evasion, and the FT added that he had been in talks with Switzerland over a proposal to tax the deposits held by Greek residents in the non-EU tax haven.

Papaconstantinou denied, however, suggestions that Greece would have to default, such is its difficulty in getting out of its current financial slump.

“There are people who think [default] is inevitable,” Papaconstantinou told reporters, “but there are also those who have bet a lot of money on a Greek default. That’s what explains the ridiculous rumors of the last few weeks. There is no question of restructuring.”