José Sócrates, Portugal’s prime minister, has denied claims that his country will need to seek external financial help, vowing that it can cope with its sovereign debt difficulties.

Sócrates played down reports that the French and German governments were putting pressure on Lisbon to apply for emergency funds in order to prevent the debt crisis spreading.

“We are achieving better results with income as well as expenditure. This is the best signal of trust we can give the international markets,” Sócrates told reporters on Saturday.

“We have heard reports like this several times over the past year. Portugal is doing everything it needs to do, and that will continue.”

He reiterated his stance that Portugal would meet its target for reducing its budget deficit and that the country could finance its debt.

Anibal Cavaco Silva, the Portuguese president, also said that he hoped his country would not have to follow Ireland in seeking emergency help from the €450bn European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Portugal will turn to the bond markets on Wednesday in an attempt to raise €1.25bn.

A report in the German magazine Der Spiegel, published today (Monday), says that the French and German governments were putting pressure on Portugal to take an early decision to seek a bail-out amid fears that Lisbon would soon be unable to raise credit on financial markets. Paris and Berlin are worried that the debt crisis could affect other eurozone countries if Portugal does not take swift action.

In a sign of increasing disquiet, Portugal had to offer six-month interest rates of 3.69% on bonds last week. This compares to a eurozone benchmark of 0.5%.

Government officials in both countries have publicly denied the reports and the European Commission has also stated that it has not received any indication that Lisbon will request support.