Greece posts primary budget surplus in Jan-Oct, in line with targets
Greece’s central government posted a primary budget surplus of 1.1 billion euros between January and October after tax revenues exceeded expectations, the country’s deputy finance minister Christos Staikouras said on Wednesday.
The reading excludes bond profit returns of 1.5 billion euros from European central banks to Athens, under the terms of its international bailout.
Wednesday’s figures show that Athens was on course to post a primary budget surplus of about 345 million euros at general government level for the full year, Staikouras said.
Reaching a primary surplus, which excludes interest payments on the country’s debt and one-off bond profit returns, is the main goal of debt-laden Greece’s government.
Hitting that target would trigger a clause in its international bailout allowing Athens to seek additional debt relief from its lenders.
[Reuters]
