Luís de Sousa, president of the Portuguese chapter of Transparency International who led the survey said that there is a lack of a comprehensive and coherent prevention and enforcement strategy.
The corruption problems Portuguese people face is worsened by austerity measures enacted in the country.
Many measures such as privatizations, the renegotiation of public-private partnerships or the restructuring of the defense sector are not transparent enough. The rush with which these policies are being implemented can hide very shady deals, said Mr. de Sousa.
Portugal isn’t seen as that highly corrupt of a nation: It ranked 32nd out of 183 countries in the 2011 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, tied with Taiwan and Botswana. It ranks 18th best in all of Europe.
