Greek budget reports 1.951 bln euros primary surplus in Jan-Aug

Greek state budget presented a primary surplus of 1.951 billion euros in the January-August period this year, Finance Alternate Minister Christos Staikouras said on Friday.

Presenting budget execution data, the Greek minister said that according to provisional figures, on a cash basis, the state budget presented a deficit of 2.845 billion euros in the eight-month period, from a deficit of 2.502 billion euros in the corresponding period last year and a revised budget target for a deficit of 4.117 billion euros.

Primary result was a surplus of 1.951 billion euros, from a primary surplus of 2.861 billion euros in the same period in 2013 and a revised budget target for a primary surplus of 962 million euros in the eight-month period.

Commenting on the results, Staikouras said that the budget's primary result was positive amounting to 1.1 pct of GDP in the January-August period, from a budget target for a surplus of 0.5 pct of GDP.

Greek budget's primary surplus in the seven-month period was 3.2 billion euros, or 1.8 pct of GDP, from a surplus of 1.8 billion euros, or 1.0 pct of GDP, in 2013. State budget deficit amounted to 2.8 billion euros or 1.6 pct of GDP from a budget target for a deficit of 4.1 billion euros or 2.3 pct of GDP.

Net state budget revenue totaled 32.9 billion euros, around 2.0 billion euros down from last year and 325 million euros down from a revised budget target, while net regular budget revenue totaled 29.6 billion euros, around 1.3 billion euros down from last year and 260 million euros down from targets.

Revenue pre-tax returns totaled 31.8 billion euros, down 260 million euros from last year and 100 million euros lower compared with budget targets. Staikouras attributed the lower performance of the budget to two factors: first budget revenues were boosted last year from the transfer of 1.5 billion euros of yields from Greek state bond holdings by Eurosystem central banks and secondly, tax returns were 45 pct lower last year.

Staikouras said that tax returns totaled 2.2 billion euros this year, from 1.2 billion euros last year and added that primary spending fell to 27 billion euros in the eight-month period, down 1.5 billion euros from 2013 and 1.2 billion euros lower compared with budget targets. Capital spending fell significantly in the January-August period. Public Investment Program spending rose significantly to 3.3 billion euros in the eight-month period, up 30 pct from the same period in 2013.

The Greek minister said that the country remained within a fiscal framework course for the third successive year and that it was achieving its fiscal goals through the sacrifices made by Greek households and enterprises.