The Portuguese government has decided to ask for financial aid from the European Commission, outgoing Prime Minister Jose Socrates said in Lisbon in a televised speech on Wednesday.

The Portuguese government has decided to ask for financial aid from the European Commission, Prime Minister Socrates said in a televised speech on April 6. [Xinhua]

The country has previously insisted on not asking for any bailout as such a move would lead to years of austerity measures, which is hardly bearable for the country's already weak economy.

"This is an especially grave moment for our country ... and things will only get worse if nothing's done," Socrates said, adding that a bailout was "the last resort."

The move made Portugal the third European country in need of a bailout after Greece and Ireland. The request has been confirmed by the European Commission. "The Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, today informed the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, of the intention of Portugal to ask for the activation of the financial support mechanisms," the Commission said in a statement released on Wednesday night.

"The President of the European Commission assured that this request will be processed in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also expressed a readiness to provide assistance for Portugal. "We have not received a request for financial assistance," an IMF spokesperson said in Washington. "We stand ready to assist Portugal."

Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Portuguese credit rating on Tuesday by one notch to BBB-, just five days after lowering it to BBB, increasing pressures on the country.

Socrates justified the need to asked for a bailout in his speech, saying that things would be "aggravated" if nothing was done. He resigned last month after the country's parliament voted against his new round of austerity measures aimed at reducing a high budget deficit to avoid a bailout.