(LISBON) - Portugal's finance minister announced Sunday that his government was offering a 20-billion-euro (27-billion-dollar) state guarantee for banks endangered by the global financial crisis.

"In order to reinforce our financial system, the government has decided to launch an initiative guaranteeing the financial operations of credit institutions whose headquarters are in Portugal," Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said after a ministerial meeting on the crisis.

"These state guarantees will be up to 20 billion euros," he said.

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