Staikouras: Growth overshoot eliminates primary deficit
The primary budget deficit for 2022 came to zero, compared to a forecast of 1.6%, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, thanks to the higher-than-expected growth.
Greece’s economy covered a gap of nearly 3.4 billion euros.
“The improved fiscal result compared to the forecasts so far is mainly thanks to higher growth,” he said, adding that “this helps the economy and society.”
This also improves the target for a general government surplus of 0.7% of gross domestic product, ahead of Eurostat’s report on April 24, and brings Greece closer to achieving investment grade.
This would bring an annual fiscal benefit of €900 million to €1 billion, as it will lead to lower interest rates for the state.
“One of the basic pillars of the government’s economic policy, from the start of its term, has been to exercise a prudent fiscal policy, which due to continuous imported crises had to be combined with the strong and effective support of society and the economy over the fallout of the crises,” Staikouras said.
“Having achieved that support, we gave emphasis to the stabilization and gradual improvement of public finances.”
Greece succeeded, he explained, as it registered the highest fiscal improvement in Europe for 2022, “leading its public deficit to zero, despite the fact that the support measures for society were among the most generous in Europe.”
This, he said, “is yet further evidence of the Greek economy’s high resilience, significant progress, and powerful momentum, which were achieved thanks to the tough and methodical effort of everyone, citizens and state alike.”
