The Greek Deputy Finance Minister, Christos Staikouras reported on Tuesday, that the Greek government posted a primary budget surplus of 700 million euros for 2013, which was a key target set by the country’s foreign creditors in order to examine possible debt relief.
According to the Deputy Finance Minister, the central government’s primary surplus (not counting the cost of paying interest on existing debt) is estimated to reach 691 million euros ($956 million).
Staikouras said that after many years and sacrifices from the Greek people, the country has finally succeeded a primary surplus. “This is a very important result that was achieved by meeting targets in revenues and exceeding them in terms of expenditures.” he said.
He claimed that the primary surplus for overall government spending is expected amount to 812 million euros ($1.1 billion). The official data will be released in about a month, while Eurostat will release data for the 2013 Greek budget in April.
Foreign creditors and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have promised the Greek government, that they can claim further debt relief after presenting a primary surplus for a full year. The Greek government is hoping to achieve a 2013 primary budget surplus of about 812 million euros or 0.4% of gross domestic product at the general government level.
Representatives of the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will visit Athens in order to review the country’s finances. However the exact date has not yet been set.
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