Debts to state growing at a worrying rate

By Tasos Telloglou

New debts to the Greek state are constantly mounting while the repayment of old ones has slowed down considerably, according to a Finance Ministry document seen by Kathimerini.

The document shows that only 9.3 percent of past debts were collected in the first few months of 2014, against 12.3 percent a year earlier, while new expired debts are being created faster than the old ones are being repaid, fed by a 63 percent jump in fines for administrative violations compared with last year.

Another ministry document reveals that the worst-faring debt repayment category is that of the property tax on the self-employed, as only 7.9 percent of this has been collected.

Collection of past value-added tax debts has increased marginally, from 12.3 percent to 12.8 percent, while new debts have risen by much more.