Portugal undertakes austerity measures

LISBON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese(葡萄牙) President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Monday signed into law a bill containing a package of austerity measures to reduce the public deficit¹.
The law, which was first presented by the government and later approved by the parliament（议会,国会）, included an increase of value added tax and taxation² on companies and workers.
Some people doubt whether some measures in the law are constitutional.
The Constitutional Tribunal is expected to decide soon whether the measures are constitutional.
The government aims to reduce the public deficit this year from 9.3 percent to 7.3 percent of gross domestic product. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。