Portugal is on a desperate quest to limit the scale of its financial assistance by requesting a small loan to keep the country afloat until after its general election in June.
However, Germany and the European Commission are opposed to the idea, insisting that Portugal must commit to a multi-year programme of austerity before the EU will toss Lisbon a life-line.
Heading into an informal meeting of European finance ministers in Godollo, Hungary, EU economy chief Olli Rehn told repo...
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