Financial analysts have described the €500 billion emergency plan put together by EU finance ministers to shore up the euro as a bold move, however they also urged caution.

In addition to the European funds, the International Monetary Fund has also pledged €250 billion in a deal that saw the euro strengthen against the dollar after hitting a 14-month low last week.

The amount substantially covers the sovereign debt of many eurozone members, taking the heat off countries such as Spain and Portugal, which investors were eyeing with great suspicion after the Greek collapse. The Iberian Peninsula countries too are riddled with high debt, big deficits and sluggish economies.

The risk of contagion seems to have been averted for now but analysts have cautioned against over-optimism.

Jesmond Mizzi, managing director of Jesmond Mizzi Financial Services Ltd, said it would be difficult to tell if eurozone countries would have to consider other options next year or whether Spain or Portugal would actually make use of the package.

Financial analyst John Cassar White said the package was most welcome but insisted his concern was on what would happen after the initial feel-good factor was over.

"This is a three-year plan and it will take longer than that to solve the deep structural problems Greece has," he said.

"Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland are nothing like Greece but the global atmosphere is still very fragile and in these circumstances markets can act irrationally. My concern is if investors take the view that government debt is too high and they are unable to pay it back then it can lead to serious problems," Mr Cassar White said.

The emergency measures to prevent the Greek debt crisis from spreading to other countries boosted stock markets around the world and saw the euro climb.

"The markets gained some of last week's lost ground. It was a bold move, even if overdue and it was definitely needed. Markets expected concrete action and they got it," Mr Mizzi said.

However, he added, investors were more likely to still see the dollar as a safer bet than the euro because the European Central Bank was too absent when the Greek situation deteriorated.

"Investors did not believe the ECB would do something and that created more uncertainty and instability," Mr Mizzi said.