IMF says Portugal has asked for bailout

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund confirmed Friday that Portugal had asked for financial help to meet the country's crushing debt burden.

"We are prepared to move expeditiously on this request and hold swift discussions with the Portuguese government," IMF managing director Dominique Strauss Kahn said in a statement.

The IMF joins the European Union and the European Central Bank in plans to prop up the ailing Iberian nation's finances.