Portugal's government says the constitutional court's rejection of austerity measures from this year's budget creates serious difficulties in meeting international bailout commitments.
Luis Marques Guedes, state decretary for cabinet affairs, said on Saturday that the decision "jeopardises the country's hard-earned credibility" gained with its European partners and lenders and would have a negative impact on the austerity programme under way.
He said that Pedro Passos Coelho, the Portuguese prime minister, had requested an emergency meeting with President Anibal Cavaco Silva to discuss the complex situation.
The court ruled late on Friday that some of the unpopular pay cuts in this year's state budget were unlawful, denying the government about 1.4bn euros ($1.8bn) of predicted revenue.
The government said that it would accept the ruling after it held an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Saturday.
The constitutional court's decision delivers a setback to the austerity strategy agreed between the government and foreign creditors who lent Portugal 78bn euros ($101.5bn) in a bailout two years ago.
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