ECONOMY

Greek state finances keep deteriorating

Greek state finances keep deteriorating

A dramatic decline was recorded in the primary budget surplus in the first half of the year although this was accompanied by growth in the debts of the state to its suppliers, Finance Ministry data showed on Thursday.

The general government primary surplus came to 238 million euros, against 1.8 billion euros in the same period last year, with the deterioration attributed mainly to the financial state of the social security funds. The latter posted a deficit of 1 billion euros this year against a surplus of 416 million euros in the January-June 2014 period.

Central government entities registered a primary deficit of 442 million euros, against a primary surplus of 740 million euros last year, while the primary surplus of local authorities fell to 145 million euros from 287 million in 2014.

The state’s expired debts rose at end-June to 5.3 billion euros, from about 5 billion at end-May and just 1.6 billion euros at the start of the year. Most of the debts belong to the social security funds, amounting to 2.3 billion euros which they owe to their suppliers.

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