Finance Ministry

A monthly quota introduced in August last year on unprocessed gold imports is helping reduce the current account deficit, the Treasury and Finance Ministry has said.

Under the current regulation, there is a monthly quota of 12 tons of unprocessed gold imports.

The expansion rate of the economy this year would have been just over 1% (compared to the 2.5% predicted in the new Stability Program 2024-2025) were it not for the resources of the Recovery and Resilience Fund, senior National Economy and Finance Ministry officials acknowledge, confirming the key role of the RRF for the Greek economy.

Budget revenues from taxes in January-March 2024 were 598 million euros above target, at €14.844 billion, the National Economy and Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday.

Targets were exceeded largely as a result of higher-than-expected income taxes, as revenues from other taxes were relatively close to the targeted amounts.

The commission charged for "small retail" transactions via POS terminals is to be halved by an amendment that the National Economy and Finance Ministry has added to the draft bill titled "Merger of primary level jurisdiction, spatial reorganization of the courts of civil and criminal justice and other measures of the Justice Ministry."

Some 1,000 tax inspectors will be out in the field in 50 of the country's 81 provinces to check if large companies are complying with tax regulations in key industries, such as retail, transportation, jewelry, energy, health services, hospitality, construction and textile.

The Greek Finance Ministry will table legislation within the next two weeks halving the fees for POS transactions, MInister Kostis Hatzidakis said on Tuesday.

With investments in Greece on the rise, Michael Arghyrou, the head of the Council of Economic Advisors for Greece's Finance Ministry, joins Thanos Davelis to look at how these investments are transforming Greece's economy, and to bust some of the myths around investments in Greece. 

The central government debt stock was 7.5 trillion Turkish Liras ($232 billion) at the end of March, the Treasury and Finance Ministry has said.

Some 2.7 trillion liras of the debt stock is denominated in the local currency, and 4.8 trillion liras is denominated in foreign currencies, the ministry said in a statement.

In a significant affirmation of Bulgaria's path towards Eurozone accession, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni has confirmed the European Commission's support for Bulgaria's admission to the Eurozone in 2025.

Taxpayers' overdue debts to the tax office are divided into three categories, for which the National Economy and Finance Ministry and the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) are planning settlements.