Athens Airport contract cash boosts budget figures in Q1
The concession contract extension for Athens International Airport sent the budget revenues soaring last month, as it had not been factored in for March but for last year. As a result, the budget target in the first quarter of this year was far exceeded.
The figures issued on Monday by the State General Accounting Office showed the state collected 1.176 billion euros last month. It also showed a 192-million-euro increase in the revenues of the public investments budget. Consequently the net revenues of the budget recorded a 12.7 percent overrun to reach up to 12.003 billion euros in the year’s first quarter.
The 1.01-billion-euro shortfall in expenditure in the year to end-March also contributed toward the budget recording a primary surplus of 1.46 billion euros in the year’s first quarter, against a target for a primary deficit of 960 million euros.
