Jan-Feb government budget primary surplus beats target
Greece’s central government attained a primary budget surplus of 2.75 billion euros in the first two months of the year, well above its target thanks to higher tax revenues and lower spending, finance ministry data showed on Wednesday.
The government was targeting a primary budget surplus – which excludes debt-servicing costs – of 1.307 billion euros for the Jan-to-Feb period, meaning the surplus outperformed the target by 1.445 billion euros.
The central government surplus excludes the budgets of social security organizations and local administration. It is different from the figure monitored by Greece’s EU/IMF lenders but indicates the state of the country’s finances.
Net tax revenue came in at 8.3 billion euros, 683 million euros above target, while spending reached 7.43 billion euros, 310 million euros below target.
The government projects a primary budget surplus of 3.82 percent of economic output this year, according to its 2018 budget. The bailout target is for a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP.
[Reuters]
