The measures are set out in a decree law that was explained to journalists by foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva at the end of today's cabinet meeting.

"The decree-law approves new measures, additional measures, in order to have our contingency plan fully operational, and these measures also correspond to the alignment of our national contingency plan with the contingency plan drawn up by the 27 member states at European Union level," Santos Silva said.

According to the foreign minister, the logic of this law "is very simple", it is to "extend until 31 December 2020 the present situation with respect to financial operators, on the one hand, and with respect to workers in what concerns the discounts and benefits for social security, on the other hand.