Speaking in Porto, Costa said that he had just received the “happy news” that the milestone had been reached "of having a billion euros in funds paid to companies in investment incentives" to the end of 2017, making it possible to "revise up the objective" where this is concerned.

The government is now aiming to end the year with €1.25 billion in incentives paid out, which would, Costa said, “certainly be … the best ever year in execution of EU funds for companies”.

Costa was speaking at Economy Faculty of the University of Porto, as part of a series of public hearings on the National Strategy for the EU budget from 2020. Wednesday’s session was dedicated to business.