Portugal's prime minister is pointing to Greece's troubles as he seeks to persuade voters to re-elect his centre-right coalition government and reject anti-austerity proposals from the main opposition Socialist Party.
With elections three months away, Pedro Passos Coelho said in an interview with S.I.C. television that Portugal cannot afford a repeat of its 2011 financial crisis, when it faced bankruptcy and required a 78 billion euro ($86 billion) bailout following six years of left-of-centre Socialist rule.
Pasoss Coelho said his government has started cutting government debt and reforming Portugal's economy, with growth of 0.9 per cent last year after three straight years of recession.
He said "it's in the hands of the Portuguese to make that a lasting change or risk another path."
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