Public service trade unions were called for a meeting at the ministry of finance on Friday in Lisbon to discuss the state's admission's policy.

The government also proposed for the minimum national wage to increase to €600 from 1 January 2019, from €580.

While employers' associations accepted the agreement to raise the national minimum wage next year to €600, trade unions demanded a bigger increase.

Portugal has seen strong recovery since the 2011-2014 financial crisis and the ruling Socialist government has been rolling back austerity over the past three years, with the economy supported by foreign investment, tourism and rising exports.

Portugal’s government has said that it expects public debt as a share of gross domestic product to drop to 118.5% by the end of next year, from 121.2% at the end of this year.

Its state budget for 2019, which was approved last month, foresees next year’s budget deficit at 0.2% of GDP, after this year’s projected 0.7%.