Greeks suffer under the harsh austerity and Greece’s Budget Deficit is growing… Huge ‘black’ holes appeared in the period Jan-Sept 2011 and Athens seems unable to meet its fiscal targets. Direct and indirect taxes pour into the barrel without bottom and the state has to collect 5,5 billion EUR to meet the targets until the end of the year.
Data on budget execution for the period Jan-Sep 2011 reveal a gap of €3.6 billion.
The Greek state managed to raise only €34.98 billion, instead of €38.59, which was the initial target. Compared with the corresponding period last year, revenue was decreased by 4.2%. However, in a statement, the Finance Ministry said that it calculates performance against the revised –again- data.
According to the revised data, an increase of 0.8% in revenue is expected for the whole year, while expenditure is expected to rise by 5.2%.
Regarding the public investment program, revenues are expected to increase by 8.1%, while expenditure would decrease by 10.6%. Expenditures declined by 35.1% in the 9-month period.
However, the budget deficit amounted to €19.16 billion, increasing by 15.1%, compared with the corresponding period last year. It is not expected to exceed €22.5 billion by the end of the year. (source: Capital.gr)
There is a more detailed article on the issue by Reuters
