LISBON, Jan. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Anibal Cavaco Silva, a centre-right candidate, won Portugal's presidential election on Sunday, gaining 50.78 percent of the vote, the country's election commission said on Sunday.

    Cavaco Silva was born in July 1939 in Loule and took his first degree at the Institute of Economic and Financial Studies in Lisbon before studying in Britain.

    He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1974.

    Cavaco Silva became director of research at the Bank of Lisbon in 1977, then worked as Planning and Finance Minister from 1980 to 1981. He served as the prime minister of Portugal from 1985 to 1995

    During his 1980s term as finance minister and prime minister, he steered the nation in the European Union and deregulated the economy.

    He last ran for president in 1996, and was defeated by incumbent President Jorge Sampaio.

    Portugal currently has the biggest budget deficit in the euro zone. The current government has already imposed austerity measures and raised taxes to try to combat the problem. Enditem