Social dividend seen at 400 mln euros this year

The state budget continued on its course toward a primary surplus overrun in October too, with Finance Ministry officials estimating this will top the 346 million euros estimated in next year's budget and get quite close to 400 million instead for the whole of 2019.

The precise amount of the social dividend, or "growth dividend," as Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently referred to it, will be for the prime minister to decide, likely next week after the submission of the final budget draft to Parliament on Thursday.,

The fiscal leeway available for the handout will be determined not only by the approximately 400 million euros primary surplus overrun, but also by 2019's non-disbursed reserves, according to a ministry source. Kathimerini understands that the reserves amounted to 380 million euros when the government changed in July, but after spending such as the upcoming...