At 8.735 billion euros, against a target for a primary surplus of 5.297 billion euros, the primary surplus of the state budget for the period January - September 2024, according to a statement by the Ministry of Economy and Finance
At the same time tax revenues would have amounted to 48.867 billion euro, up by 2.494 billion euro or 5.4% against the target.
In particular, according to the state budget execution data, on a modified cash basis, for the period January - September 2024, there is a surplus in the state budget balance of EUR 1,568 million against a target for a deficit of EUR 1,443 million included for the corresponding period of 2024 in the 2024 Budget Report and a deficit of EUR 397 million in the corresponding period of 2023. The primary balance on a modified cash basis was a surplus of EUR 8,735 million, against a target of a primary surplus of EUR 5,297 million and a primary surplus of EUR 5,987 million for the same period in 2023.
It is noted that part of the difference in tax revenue collections of EUR 647 million is counted in the fiscal outturn for the year 2023, while an amount related to the deferral of transfer payments to OCA of EUR 1,683 million and expenditure on armaments programmes of EUR 899 million (i.e. a total of EUR 2,582 million) does not affect the outturn in fiscal terms.
Excluding the above amounts, the excess of the primary surplus of the state budget over the target for the January-September period amounts to EUR 209 million.
Therefore, the primary outcome in fiscal terms is different from the outcome in cash terms. It should be noted that the above refers to the primary result of the central government and not to the general government as a whole, which includes the financial results of the legal entities and the sub-sectors of the local authorities and local government units.
In the period January - September 2024, the amount of net state budget revenues amounted to EUR 50,899 million, representing a decrease of EUR 1,236 million or 2.371 TTP3T compared to the target included for the corresponding period in the 2024 Budget Report, since the target of the Report for the nine months of January-September 2024 had included :
a) the collection in March of an amount of EUR 1,797 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RDF), most of which, i.e. EUR 1,687 million, was collected in December 2023 and an additional amount of EUR 159 million was collected in January 2024. It should be noted that the 4th tranche of grants from the CIF, foreseen for September, was finally received in October (EUR 998.6 million).
b) the receipt in June of a price of EUR 1,350 million from the concession contract for the financing, operation, maintenance and exploitation of the Egnatia Motorway and the three (3) vertical road axes, which was signed on 29.03.2024. The next steps of the process up to the payment of the price are expected to be completed in the coming months.
Total state budget revenues amounted to EUR 56 370 million, down by EUR 683 million or 1.21TTP3T against the target.
More specifically, the revenues of the minor categories of the state budget are as follows:
Ι. Revenues of the category «Taxes» amounted to EUR 48,867 million, an increase of EUR 2,494 million or 5.4% compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's explanatory memorandum. This over-execution stems both from the better performance of the previous year's personal and corporate income taxes collected in instalments up to the end of February 2024 (note that an estimated amount of EUR 647 million is counted in the fiscal year 2023 budget outturn), and the better performance in the collection of current year taxes. Therefore, the excess of tax revenues counted in the fiscal year 2024 amounts to EUR 1,847 million.
It is noted that the above refers to the comparison with the Budget targets, while during the preparation of the 2025 Draft State Budget the relevant estimates were updated, taking into account the revenue performance.
In particular, for the main taxes in this category, the following can be observed:
* VAT revenue amounted to EUR 18,749 million, an increase of EUR 688 million compared to the target.
* Revenues from the VAT amounted to EUR 5,387 million, which is EUR 174 million higher than the target.
* Property tax revenues amounted to EUR 2,079 million, which is EUR 39 million higher than the target.
* Income tax revenues amounted to EUR 17,456 million and are increased against the target by EUR 1,587 million, of which Personal Income Tax is increased by EUR 651 million, Corporate Income Tax is increased by EUR 664 million and Other Income Taxes are increased by EUR 273 million against the target.
II. Revenue for the category «Social Contributions» amounted to EUR 46 million, an increase of EUR 2 million compared to the target.
III. Revenue under the category «Transfers» amounted to EUR 3,659 million, down by EUR 2,963 million compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's explanatory memorandum, mainly due to the collection in December 2023 of EUR 1,687 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RDF), while an amount of EUR 159 million was received in December 2023. EUR 159 million was received in January 2024, against a target of EUR 1,797 million initially foreseen to be received in March 2024 and in addition to the fact that the 4th grant tranche from the CDF, foreseen for September, was finally received in October 2024.
It should be noted that out of the above amount of EUR 3 659 million collected, an amount of EUR 3 193 million concerns EDF revenue, which is EUR 386 million higher than the target.
IV. Revenues in the category «Sales of goods and services» amounted to EUR 737 million, down by EUR 1,322 million compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's explanatory memorandum. The observed shortfall is due to the fact that the target in the explanatory report had included the collection in June of the price from the concession contract for the Egnatia Odos motorway and its three (3) vertical roads, amounting to EUR 1,350 million, which is expected to be collected in the coming months, as mentioned above.
V. Revenue under the category «Other current revenue» amounted to EUR 3,029 million, up by EUR 1,077 million compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's Explanatory Memorandum, mainly due to increased revenue from reimbursements of expenditure, by EUR 441 million, as well as increased MFF revenue, by EUR 311 million compared to the target. It should be noted that of the above-mentioned amount of EUR 3 029 million collected, an amount of EUR 404 million relates to MFF revenue.
VI. Revenue for the category «Sales of fixed assets» amounted to EUR 33 million, against a target of EUR 4 million.
Revenue repayments amounted to EUR 5 471 million, an increase of EUR 552 million over the target (EUR 4 919 million).
Total revenues of the Public Investment Programme (PIP) amounted to €3,597 million, up €697 million from the target (€2,900 million).
Specifically, in September 2024, total net state budget revenues amounted to €5,766 million, down by €1,463 million compared to the monthly target, mainly due to the delayed collection of the planned tranche from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, as mentioned above.
More specifically, the revenues by major category of the state budget for September 2024 are as follows:
I. Revenues in the category «Taxes» amounted to EUR 5,865 million, an increase of EUR 595 million or 11.3% against the Budget target, which should however be combined with the significant increase in tax refunds of EUR 511 million. The increase in net tax revenue therefore amounts to EUR 84 million.
In particular, for the main taxes in this category the following can be observed:
* VAT revenue amounted to EUR 1,953 million, which is EUR 156 million higher than the target.
* Revenues from the VAT amounted to €643 million, which is €42 million higher than the target.
* Property tax revenues amounted to EUR 138 million and are EUR 9 million below target.
* Income tax revenues amounted to EUR 2,519 million and are increased against target by EUR 390 million, of which EUR 266 million relates to personal income tax and EUR 51 million to corporate income tax, while other income taxes are increased by EUR 73 million against target.
II. The revenue of the category «Social Contributions» amounted to EUR 5 million, in line with the target.
III. Revenue under the category «Transfers» amounted to 470 million euro, down by 1,730 million euro compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's explanatory memorandum, due to the non-receipt in September of the planned instalment from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, as mentioned above. An amount of EUR 447 million relates to MFF revenue, which is EUR 129 million higher than the target.
IV. Revenue under the category «Sales of goods and services» amounted to EUR 66 million, an increase of EUR 1 million compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's explanatory memorandum.
V. Revenue under the category «Other current revenue» amounted to EUR 333 million, an increase of EUR 185 million compared to the target included in the 2024 Budget's explanatory memorandum. An amount of EUR 2 million relates to MFF revenue, which is EUR 2 million lower than the target.
Revenue refunds amounted to EUR 973 million, an increase of EUR 511 million from the target (EUR 462 million), as mentioned above.
Total revenues of the Public Investment Budget (PIB) amounted to EUR 449 million, up by EUR 127 million from the target (EUR 322 million).
State Budget expenditure for the period January-September 2024 amounted to EUR 49,330 million and is presented EUR 4,246 million lower than the target (EUR 53,577 million), which was included in the 2024 Budget Report. They are also increased, compared to the same period in 2023, by EUR 637 million, mainly due to the increase in interest payments.
On the Ordinary Budget side, payments are below target by EUR 3,575 million. This development is mainly due to the delay of EUR 1 683 million in transfer payments to the CSOs, as well as EUR 899 million in expenditure related to the armaments programmes, which do not affect the outcome in budgetary terms. In the opposite direction, i.e. increasing relative to the target, interest payments on government debt service increased by EUR 461 million.
As notable transfer payments can be mentioned: the payment of 130 million euros from the Ministry of Rural Development and Food to ELGA for the compensation of affected farms from flooding due to the DANIEL-ELIAS natural disasters of September 2023 as well as for related land reclamation works, the grant of 247 million euros to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. EUR 247 million from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to transport operators (OASA, OASTH and OSE), the grant of EUR 276 million from the Ministry of Health to the National Central Health Procurement Authority (HCPA) to cover the cost of supplying medicines for the needs of the hospitals of the NHS and the G.N. Papageorgiou and the grant of 128 million euros to the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to cover their operating costs.
Payments on the investment expenditure side amounted to EUR 7 238 million, EUR 672 million below target.
