Employees at the Greek Finance Ministry are in danger to die of thirst. And that’s because the water cooling stands were removed on Wednesday morning. According to Proto Thema, technicians of the private supplier removed the water coolers from the corridors of the ministry due to unpaid debts! The ministry has not paid the supplier of the bottled water for ten months, it is claimed. Therefore the private company terminated the contract and took back the equipment.
That’s the bitter Greek reality. Not only the citizens do not pay debts to the state but also the state have apparently joined the “I don’t pay” movement.
According to several sources, the Greek state owes 7 billion euro to private suppliers including medicine suppliers who cover public hospitals needs and pharmacists.
In dire need of cash and amid a fragile political and economic environment, the state has frozen all payment to its suppliers.
For every one euro that the state does not collect, it cuts five euros from spending and public investment. Every cent that is collected is spent for wages and pensions.
The performance of the state revenues for the first four months of 2012 are much bellow the expected. The state budget deficit was at 9.15 billion euro, missing the target pf 11 billion euro.
Below the Greek FinMin press release from May 11/2012 on State Budget Deficit Jan-April 2012
According to the preliminary data available for the execution of the State Budget for the four months January – April 2012, on a modified cash basis, the State Budget deficit amounted to 9,098 million Euros, a significant improvement relative to the target deficit of 11,009 million Euros set in the 2012 Supplementary Budget. During the same period, the State Budget primary deficit amounted to 1,679 million Euros, notably better relative to the 3,262 million Euros primary deficit required to be in line with targets.
State Budget net revenues amounted to 16,193 million Euros, performing slightly below the target set in the 2012 Supplementary Budget (16,641 million Euros) by 448 million Euros.
The primary reason for this shortfall is the underperformance of the Ordinary Budget net revenues by 335 million Euros relative to the target (14,989 million Euros).
The lower than anticipated outturn in Ordinary Budget net revenues can be attributed on the one hand to a shortfall in revenue from VAT (by 435 million Euros against target) due to domestic demand contraction, and on the other hand to a shortfall of other non-tax revenues.
However, a significant improvement was recorded in the collection of tax arrears due to intensified audits and the receipts from the special levy on real estate collected through electricity bills.
Net revenues from the Public Investment Budget amounted to 1,539 million Euros, against a target of 1,652 million Euros.
State Budget expenditures for the first four months of 2012, equalled 25,291 million Euros, 2,359 million Euros lower than the year-to-date target (27,650 million Euros) forecast in the 2012 Supplementary Budget.
This development reflects primarily the significant containment of Ordinary Budget spending (1,429 million Euros below the target) following tight control of primary expenditures that equalled 16,319 million Euros – 924 million Euros below the budget target. Furthermore, military procurement (127 million Euros below the target) and net interest payments (328 million Euros below the target) were lower than projected in the 2012 Supplementary Budget.
Public Investment spending was also significantly constrained relative to the target of 1,885 million Euros, amounting to 956 million Euros in the first four months of 2012.
State Budget expenditures up to April 2012 were 2,814 million Euros higher than in the same period a year ago, primarily due to a year-on-yearincrease innet interest payments by 3,600 million Euros as part of the implementation of the PSI debt exchange. Total non-interest (primary) Οrdinary Budget expenditures through April 2012 are 786 million Euros lower than in 2011 following the rationalization of public sector salary expenditures and earmarked revenues among other spending cuts.
Why such high taxes, emergency taxes, high unemployment, deep recession and economic uncertainty, no wonder the tax paying morale of the Greeks is definitely sinking….
“The performance of the state revenues for the first four months of 2012 are much bellow the expected. The state budget deficit was at 9.15 billion euro, missing the target pf 11 billion euro.”
That’s better than expected, not worse.
ops, soory. I had something else in mind when I started to write the sentence lol
Publicly funded water coolers are a luxury that officials should be able to live without. Especially at a time when the state is unable to pay for much more important expenses. Free water isn’t a standard at jobs in the private sector, neither.
However, to cut the payments to supliers without cancelling the contracts first is an act of impertinence. Of course, suppliers can expect that the state follows the letter of the law and doesn’t cheat them out of money.
I agree now if the Germans could do the same with all their tanks …