Portugal, like Europe, loses appetite for reform

Sintra, Portugal

CELEBRATED among Europe's elite as a model of how to reform an economy after a debt binge, Portugal's enthusiasm for change has waned as Europe loses its appetite for further belt-tightening.

With Greece's future in the euro uncertain, after its leftist government all but tore up a reform-for-aid deal, Europe's policy setters are putting an extra shine on other countries that were bailed out - in part to avoid a spillover.

They have declared Portugal, following on the heels of Ireland, a recovery success story after a debt crisis that started with a financial crash and drove countries from Greece to Ireland to the brink of bankruptcy. "l compared the case of Portugal to the film Match Point," Jose Manuel Barroso, the former president of the Euro…