State revenues 4 billion euros short of target
The shortfall in budget revenues for the first seven months of 2015 came to nearly 4 billion euros while government spending ground to an almost complete halt.
According to the Ministry of Finance, there was a primary surplus of 3.7 billion euros for the seven months from January to July 2015 against a surplus of 2.3 billion euros for the same period in 2014, and a target for a primary deficit of 2.9 billion euros.
The ministry said that net revenues came to 26.9 billion euros, 12.8 percent below the target. For the month of July, net revenues were 38 percent below the monthly target.
The shortfall has been put down to a combination of factors, including the extension of the deadline for tax payments, uncertainty about the payment of the ENFIA property tax for 2015, and the fact that 1.7 billion euros in profits from Greek bonds held by Eurosystem central banks are yet to be received.
By contrast, revenue from corporate income tax was up 120 percent against the July 2015 target and VAT payments 0.5 percent. The government estimates that state expenditure will return to the expected levels once the country’s liquidity situation normalizes.
