Primary surplus at 2.3 bln euros in end-August
The 2014 state budget showed a primary surplus of 2.3 billion euros on a cash basis in the first eight months of the year, the Bank of Greece announced on Monday.
The cash deficit came to 2.61 billion euros, compared with a deficit of 9.04 billion in the same period last year, BoG added.
Budget revenues amounted to 30.22 billion euros, including 1.31 billion euros from the repayment of preferred stocks, but do not include 62 million euros from the transfer of Greek bond yields from central banks in the Eurosystem.
Expenditure was considerably reduced from the first eight months of 2013, as it reached 32.89 billion euros from 38.90 billion a year earlier. This includes the disbursement of about 311 million euros for the repayment of expired debts, as well as some 451 million euros concerning Greece’s contribution to the European Support Mechanism (ESM).
There was also a marked decline in the amount of interest that the Greek state paid in the period from January to August 2014. It came to 4.844 billion euros, down from 5.487 billion euros in the same period in 2013 – i.e. a drop of 643 million euros.
