Greece’s Jan-Oct primary budget surplus exceeds target
Greece’s central government registered a primary budget surplus of 6.49 billion euros in the 10 months to October, beating its target by 5.2 billion euros thanks to higher tax revenues, Finance Ministry data showed on Monday.
The central government surplus excludes the budgets of social security organizations and local administration.
It is different from the figure monitored by Greece’s eurozone/International Monetary Fund lenders, but indicates the state of the country’s finances.
The government’s target was for a primary budget surplus – which excludes debt-servicing costs – of 1.79 billion euros for the January-October period.
Net tax revenue came in at 40.07 billion euros, 2.39 billion euros above target, while spending stood at 41.5 billion euros, 3.23 billion euros below target.
September and October have been traditionally strong in tax revenue as Greeks start paying property and income taxes.
[Reuters]
