The head of Greece’s independent authority for public revenues, Giorgos Pitsilis, on Tuesday appeared confident that a goal for this year to collect 51 billion euros in revenues will be achieved, speaking in Parliament.
Pitsilis said initial data so far points to the goal being met, while he nevertheless said arrears to the state increased by six billion euros in 2017.
State revenues in 2017 reached 47.6 billion euros, slightly exceeding a goal of 46.8 billion euros.
In terms of total arrears owed to the Greek state, the figure again nearly touched the “psychological mark” of 100 billion euros, settling at 99.9 billion euros as of Jan. 1, 2018 – up from 93.9 billion euros in 2017.
Much of the astronomical figure, however, dates back decades, and corresponds to arrears owed by companies no longer in existence or taxpayers no longer active or even alive.
