The general government’s primary budget surplus for the Jan-Feb 2019 period was reduced by 75 million euros from the corresponding period in 2018, mostly due to less tax revenue as well as an increase in arrears owed to the state.
The specific figures were provided by Parliament’s Budget Office on Tuesday.
Overall, the state budget records a reduced cash primary balance over the same two-month period, from 3.115 billion euros to 3.040 billion euros
In terms of revenues, tax collection is down by 599 million euros, as are the outlays from the public investment program, 223 million euros.
The report by the Budget Office clarified that the reduction in the tax revenues for Jan-Feb is mostly due a delay in the payment of the Bank of Greece’s (BoG) dividend to the Greek state.
In 2018 the BoG handed over 614 million euros to Greek state coffers in February, while the payment this year will be made during the current month, April.
