May primary surplus posts major decline
Budget data for the January-May period yesterday showed a primary surplus of 1.54 billion euros, almost 800 million euros less than the figure reached in the first four months of the year (2.33 billion euros).
The shrinking of the primary surplus is mainly due to the 300-million-euro drop in revenues in May, and to the fact that the state has started distributing the resources that the budget provides for the various public sector entities.
Combined with the shrinking of the Public Investments Program and the delay in the payment of the resources due to hospitals, tax collections from previous years’ dues, inflows from the European Union and non-tax revenues had created an excessive primary result. Now that situation has changed, although the target for a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by the end of the year does not appear to be under threat.
