"The strategy consists in attracting more investors and volumes back into our secondary market and optimising our bond curve, following a strategy similar to Ireland's," Joao Moreira Rato, head of the government's IGCP debt agency, wrote in an e-mailed reply to questions from Reuters.

He said investors already visited during the roadshows have shown good reaction, but would not elaborate.

On Wednesday, Portugal took what Moreira Rato described as "a first step to regain access to medium- and long-term debt markets" with a bond swap worth a hefty 3.757 billion euros ($4.91 billion).