Greek state budget showed a primary surplus of 3.038 billion euros in the January-February period this year, up from a surplus of 1.238 billion in the same period last year and a budget target for a surplus of 1.065 billion euros, official data provided by the Finance Ministry showed on Wednesday.
The state budget (general government) recorded a surplus of 1.321 billion euros in the two-month period, from a deficit of 194 million euros last year and budget target for a deficit of 615 million euros.
State budget net revenue rose to 9.622 billion euros in the first two months, up 11.1 pct from targets, while regular budget net revenue was 8.1 billion euros, up 4.1 pct from targets. Revenue surpassed targets in the categories of income tax (3.7 pct), direct taxes (46.7 pct), non-tax revenue (49.5 pct), while revenue fell short of targets in the categories of income tax (special categories) (-14.3 pct), property taxes (-22.1 pct), oil taxes (-26.7 pct), special energy consumption taxes (-38.2 pct) and other indirect taxes (-24.3 pct).
Public Investment Programme
Tax returns fell to 544 million euros, down 45 million from budget targets. Public Investment Programme revenue amounted to 1.522 billion euros, up 642 million from targets.
State budget spending was 8.301 billion euros in the January-February period, down 975 million from targets. Regular budget spending amounted to 7.941 billion euros, down 960 million from targets, but up 196 million compared with the same period last year. Public Investment Programme spending totaled 360 million euros, down 15 million from targets.
In February, net revenue increased to 5.408 billion euros, up 568 million from monthly targets, while regular budget revenue was 4.452 billion euros, up 332 million from targets. This development reflected increases in income tax revenue, VAT on tobacco and other products, and revenue shortfalls in corporate taxes, property taxes, oil and energy consumption taxes and other indirect taxes. Tax returns totaled 248 million euros in February, up 4.0 million from targets. Spending totaled 5.160 billion euros in February, down 492 million from monthly targets, while regular budget spending were down 492 million from targets to 4.935 billion euros.
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