ATHENS: The Greece Ministry of Finance’s general accounting office released its headline budget figures for April 2015. The numbers reflect the country’s success watching every penny it spends and trying to build up revenue through tax collection, all in an effort to hoard its available cash and survive a summer of debt payments.
In April, Greece net budget revenue surpassed its target € 500 million — the result of some 380,000 taxpayers applying for a favorable payment plan offered by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing government that allows a delayed payment of property tax, dividends to private sector business and relaxed terms on overdue debts.
Tax payments had fallen off dramatically between December and February, when citizens began to worry that Greece might fall out of the eurozone.The increased revenues show Tsipras’ government building back some of the lost trust. State budget revenues for the first four months of the year have clocked in €372 million above their target — beating their goal in April alone by €278 million. For April, the Greece’s budget deficit was only €506 million, much better than the expected €2.9 billion shortfall. The budget primary balance showed a surplus of €2.16 billion — a figure that doesn’t include debt interest payments — beating a target of €287 million.
