ABSTRACT
In the years following the Second World War, Portugal remained an authoritarian regime and a colonial power. Economically, it continued to be a mainly rural economy and a peripheral country in the European context. From the 1960s, however, Portugal joined several international organisations such as the European Free Trade Association in 1960, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in 1961, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1962. This reaching out to supra-national bodies helped to create the conditions for the development of Portuguese industry, in association with banks and other financial institutions through great monopolies. The gross domestic product (GDP) average annual growth rate was 6.9 per cent between 1960 and 1973, and for the first time in Portuguese history the secondary sector equalled the primary in terms of manpower. 1
