LISBON The euro zone needs to strengthen cooperation to avoid contagion in financial markets as no country is immune to the consequences of a potential Greek exit from the single currency, Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Monday.
“Nobody can say they are immune to what might happen,” Passos Coelho told journalists in televised comments. “What is important is the cohesion of the countries that make up the euro zone, exactly to avoid financial contagion.”
Portugal is often seen as one of the weakest countries in the euro as it still has one of the highest debt levels in the region despite exiting its own EU/IMF bailout program last year. Its 10-year bond yields surged 34 basis points to 3.08 percent on Monday on the back of Athens’ worsening crisis.
Passos Coelho said he did not know if Greece would leave the euro or not. But if that were to happen, it was important that there is a “robust solution by the euro zone, that the 18 (euro members) remaining can show resilience.”
(Reporting By Sergio Goncalves, writing by Axel Bugge- Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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