He was speaking on a day when euro-zone finance ministers are to meet in Brussels to discuss whether to revise the terms of Greece's bailout.


"Portugal has been showing solidarity towards Greece so that it stays in the euro zone," Cavaco Silva said. "As well as the loan that we have made to Greece of some 1.1 billion euros, Portugal has been transferring to Greece the product of interest on bonds in the possession of the Bank of Portugal, which represents many millions of euros that are coming out of the pocket of Portuguese taxpayers."


In recent weeks, "the Greek government has learned a lot about the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union" and has, he said, been correcting its positions. He expressed the hope that this correction continues so that it is possible for an agreement to be reached at the day's extraordinary Eurogroup meeting.


The president was speaking to journalists after the opening session of the 10th National Maize Congress, which is taking place at a hotel in Lisbon.


In his comments Cavaco Silva also noted that in the EU, each government is answerable to its own electorate. For that reason, he went on, the euro zone is a space where it is fundamental that there are rules respected by all.


It would, he said, be "a total disaster for Greece" if it left the euro.


At the same time, he contrasted Portugal's situation with that of Greece, the yields on whose bonds are nearing 20%.