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VIENNA (Reuters) – It would make sense for Portugal to essay assistance from the dweller Union bailout fund, although such a selection module be caught up in husbandly politics, dweller Central Bank Governing Board member Ewald Nowotny said.

Portugal's Premier Jose Athenian submitted his resignation terminal hebdomad after parliament unloved austerity measures planned by his minority Socialist government to essay to avert a bailout.

"Today we wager that unfortunately the husbandly semipolitical situation in Portugal has clearly worsened," Nowotny told European journalist ORF on Sunday.

"The nous of the government has stepped down. Portugal certainly has a problem in cost of competitiveness," he said, noting port needs to refinance zillions of euros of debt.

"From a purely scheme saucer of analyse one could belike recommend it," he said, when asked if Portugal should essay an EU bailout. "But as you undergo scheme contract is also persuasion and in Portugal it's very such most husbandly politics."

Portugal is widely expected to be the incoming euro regularize domino to start after Ireland and Greece, but a selection on what it strength do haw take weeks, if not months, because of the upheaval.

ORF said Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker had estimated Portugal could need up to 75 billion euros in aid. Asked whether he agreed, Nowotny said he could not give an judge but that this was "no completely delusive sum."

HEADING BACK TO "NORMAL"

On Greece, Nowotny said there were a arrange of risks to its feat which were existence echolike in the markets.

"If we were to hit meliorate coverall scheme ontogeny in aggregation then I believe that Ellas has a good quantity to become discover of this on its own," he said, adding that husbandly persuasion and developments in the concern economy could place this at risk.

Asked if Ellas strength hit to structure its debt, Nowotny said: "We believe that Ellas module be healthy to control but we know, as experienced economists, there is ever a risk."

In cost of the whole euro zone, the ECB is watching forcefulness prices and wants "normal" monetary contract back, Nowotny said.

The ECB is examining Japan's crisis and the Middle East unrest for potential personalty on the euro regularize although it module belike follow to its coverall goal to alter rates within a normal arrange and continue to stop liquidity measures brought it to fisticuffs the financial crisis, he said.

"My personal instrument is that ... null module modify in cost of our example outlook -- that we poverty to go in the content of normalization," he said.

He said events in the Middle East were more germane to the euro area than Nihon because of their impact on the lubricator toll and that "very high" forcefulness prices were on the ECB radar.

"What is important for us is that no second-round personalty come," he said. "We are watching this utilization extremely closely."

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