“The budgetary objective was achieved, but not in a sustainable way, because the one-off measures do not guarantee the long-term sustainability of the public accounts," Catroga told journalists after a meeting of the International Club of Portugal in Lisbon, which he addressed.

The former minister had been asked about the criticisms made of the Socialist government's approach by the president of the Council of Public Finances (CFP), Teodora Cardoso, who said in an interview with Público newspaper and Rádio Renascença that “up to a certain point, there was a miracle” that enabled the 2016 deficit target to be met.

“Some political agents, without technical substance and just to score political points, shouldn't criticise the CFP,” said Catroga, who said that he was very much in favour of “independent institutions” such as the Council.

“When extraordinary measures appear such as for example a fiscal pardon, for almost zero investment, which were not made explicit, you can't now criticise [parliament's] Technical Budgetary Support Unit [UTAO] or the CFP, for expressing reservations about achieving the budgetary objective," Catroga said.

According to the government, last year's budget deficit was no more than 2.1% of gross domestic product. The UTAO, in a note sent to parliament on Tuesday, estimated the deficit as 2.3%.

In his speech at the event in Lisbon, Catroga - who is now chairman of the supervisory board of Energias de Portugal, a privatised energy company - said that the country had been focussed on minor matters for the past year or so, "instead of dealing with structural problems, such as increasing productivity and competitiveness and improving the rating" of government debt, which most credit agencies currently class as 'junk'.