The Portuguese Finance Ministry forecasts that the government will have a fiscal surplus in 2020, its first for 25 years, CNBC reports.

The US business television channel says the ministry predicts a surplus equivalent to 0.25 percent of gross domestic product in 2020.

The report quotes analysts as describing the forecast as realistic, because the government has reduced its deficit in the past few years.

It quotes a Rabobank economist, Maartje Wijffelaars, as saying the reduction is due largely to improvement in the economic environment, which has meant greater revenue for the government.

The fiscal deficit was equivalent to 2 percent of GDP in 2016, having been equivalent to 11.2 percent in 2010, CNBC says.