State pays off dues under pressure from creditors
The government is again scrambling to pay off its dues to taxpayers and suppliers in order to meet the target set by the country’s creditors.
If the target is achieved, the eurozone will approve the disbursement of a 500-million-euro subtranche that is also destined for the repayment of state arrears.
According to data for last year published by the State General Accounting Office, the overdue debts of ministries, social security funds, hospitals, local authorities and other state entities were reduced to 2.25 billion euros at the end of December from 3.14 billion at end-November. Outstanding tax rebates dropped from 776 million to 765 million euros.
Notably, the state arrears figures provided do not include rebates owed by customs authorities, while some tax offices are delaying the return of income tax or value-added tax to taxpayers, as shown by Finance Ministry data.
