Draghi spoke briefly at a ceremony at the presidential palace in Belém, Lisbon, after he was decorated by Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with the Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry, one of the country’s top decorations.

"But there is another reason why I am extremely satisfied,” Draghi said. “I am at the end of my term and my eight years have coincided with the history of Portugal, in many ways. In a way, for Portugal it is the end of a long and painful journey, and now the country is solidly on the path of growth.”

According to the ECB president, an Italian who is an economist by training, "there is a major reason why this is happening, and it is the spirit with which Portugal has made its European integration."

Draghi recalled the bailout that Portugal was forced to seek in 2011, and the way different parties – the Socialist Party that is now in government as well as the centre-right Social Democrats and the right-wing People’s Party (CDS-PP) that governed in coalition from 2011 – committed to implementing the terms of the assistance programme that was negotiated, which included deep cuts in public spending.

"There is something that is unforgettable, I think for all of us, [which] was when, on the eve of elections, the parties decided that, whatever the outcome, they would respect the programme they had negotiated with the European Commission,” he said. “That is a remarkable moment, because so far as I know it has not happened anywhere else.”.

In his view, this shows "the sense of ownership of [European] integration, the spirit of integration" on the part of Portugal, which is something that "never changes, regardless of the government". This, he said, “is what is particularly impressive … what makes me extremely satisfied today because Portugal is a symbol of what European integration is."

The speaker of Portugal’s parliament, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, the minister of foreign affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, and the minister of finance, Mário Centeno – who is also president of the Eurogroup – attended the ceremony, as did the governor of the Bank of Portugal, Carlos Costa, and those of several other European central banks, namely of Belgium, Cyprus and Greece.