Greek budget recorded a primary surplus of 2.905 billion euros

Greek state budget recorded a primary surplus of 2.905 billion euros in the first half of this year, compared to a target of 1.204 billion euros and a primary surplus of 2.116 billion euros in the same period last year, National Economy and Finance ministry said in a report on Thursday.

Part of the difference in the primary surplus compared to the target in cash terms is not included in the primary result for 2024 in fiscal terms. For instance, an amount of 159 million euros related to receipts from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) does not affect the fiscal result, while a significant part of the difference in tax revenue receipts, amounting to 647 million euros, is counted in the fiscal result for 2023. Therefore, the primary result in fiscal terms differs from the result in cash terms.

More specifically,in the January-June 2024 period, the net revenue of the state budget amounted to 31.466 billion euros, showing a decrease of 287 million euros or 0.9% compared to the target included for the same period in the explanatory report of the 2024 budget. This decrease is due to the fact that the target in the explanatory report included: a) the collection in March of 1.797 billion euros from the

Recovery and Resilience Facility, of which 1.687 billion euros was collected in December 2023, and an additional 159 million euros was collected in January 2024, and b) the collection in June of 1.350 billion euros from the concession contract for the financing, operation, maintenance, and exploitation of the Egnatia Motorway and its three vertical road axes, which was signed on March 29, 2024, with the subsequent steps of the process expected to be completed in the following months.

Excluding these amounts, net revenue shows an increase of 2.701 billion euros or 9.4% compared to the target. This increase is mainly due to: a) increased tax revenues by 1.377 billion euros after deducting refunds, and b) increased Public Investment Program (PIP) revenues by 776 million euros.

Total revenue of the state budget amounted to 34.690 billion euros, decreased by 406 million euros or 1.2% compared to the target.