Portugal is expected to seek a bailout loan soon from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which will be around €80bn, a senior eurozone government official said on Thursday.

The official, who is directly involved in eurozone talks, told Dow Jones Newswires: "The amount has yet to be decided as there is no request from Portugal yet, but that request should not take long as their borrowing costs are climbing fast. The amount should be around €80bn. It could change but that's the talk in the eurozone right now,"