Greek budget has to remain tight
“There is still more to scrape from the bottom of the barrel,” a representative of Greece’s farmers said last Thursday, referring to the relevant quote by the prime minister, when he announced measures to support agricultural and livestock production.
On the same day, the Finance Ministry announced the execution data of the January budget, which at first sight seemed to justify the assessment there is money available: A primary surplus of 2.122 billion euros, against a target for a primary surplus of €1.118 billion, and tax revenues up €461 million against the target or €399 million after refunds are deducted.
However, this first impression is illusory. In fact, as the ministry itself explains in the announcement of the January budget execution data, the exceeding of the targets in the first month of the year is almost entirely attributed to the financial results of the previous year, since the collection of taxes (income, VAT, ENFIA and road tax) of 2023.
The good news is 2023 ended with a higher primary surplus than the forecast of 1.1% of GDP, though this cannot be distributed this year, as 2024, for now, is moving within the targets, but without exceeding them.
