ATHENS: The outstanding Greek state debt went up 32% in the first five months of 2015, exceeding 5 billion euros, according to Greece’s Finance Ministry figures released on Thursday.
At the end of May, the total state debt to suppliers of goods and services reached 5.04 billion euros, compared to 3.8 billion euros at the end of 2014. At the same time, the general government primary surplus continues to slide, with social security funds, hospitals, universities and other state entities recording deficits this year.
The increase of state debt highlights the fact that the Greek government stopped payments in order to cope with depleted state coffers and general lack of liquidity along with deteriorating conditions in the real economy.
However, the Greek government managed to have a primary surplus of 557 million euros at the end of May. It was almost half the 1.1-billion-euro surplus achieved at the same period in 2014.
