Primary surplus continued by end-March


The budget’s cash results for the first three months of the year pointed to a primary surplus of 771 million euros, according to data published on Thursday by the Bank of Greece.

When revenues from the transfer of earnings from bonds and the exclusion of expired dent payments are included, this figure increases to 932 million euros.

The cash deficit amounted to 1.14 billion euros, compared with 2.76 billion euros in the first quarter of 2013.

The central bank also announced that the current account balance showed a deficit of 709 million euros in February, which was 25 million euros more than that of February 2013.

The larger deficit was the result of increased loan interest payments to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the International Monetary Fund. This has taken the current account balance for the first couple of months of the year to 1 billion euros – i.e. 6 million euros more than in the same period last year.

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