"I'm convinced that the quite tough measures that Greece will have to take to correct a dramatic ... and chaotic situation in its economy and its financial system will not affect Portugal's economic and social development," said Cavaco Silva, after a meeting with Mozambique's president, Filipe Nyusi, who is on an official visit to Portugal.


Businesses in Portugal "have been diversifying their markets, going far beyond the European Union," Cavaco Silva stressed. "Some time ago now, they started looking in a very particular way at the potential of Mozambique."


This diversification has reduced the "vulnerability" of Portugal's economy to shocks from the EU, he argued.


Cavaco Silva was speaking on a day when euro-zone finance ministers, meeting via teleconference, reached an outline agreement on bridging finance of €7 billion for Greece, to enable it to make upcoming loan payments, as EU officials confirmed earlier to Lusa.

That followed the vote on Wednesday evening in Greece's parliament to approve a government proposal to negotiate on the basis of a deal reached at the weekend.