Budget: Deficit of €1.16 billion in the primary result in the period January – July

The primary result of the state budget for the period January – July 2022 was a deficit of 1,161 million euros, against a target of a primary deficit of 5,808 million euros and a primary deficit of 9,063 million euros for the same period in 2021, as announced today by the Ministry of Finance.

According to the execution data of the state budget, on a modified cash basis, for the same period, there is a deficit in the balance of the state budget of 4,585 million euros against a target for a deficit of 9,180 million euros included for the corresponding period of 2022 in the report report of the 2022 Budget and a deficit of 12,515 million euros in the corresponding period of 2021.

In detail, as announced by the Ministry of Finance:

The amount of net revenues of the state budget amounted to 33,703 million euros, showing an increase of 4,803 million euros or 16.6% compared to the estimate for the corresponding period included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget, despite the reduced revenues of the PDE . The increased tax revenue of the seven months was further strengthened during the month of July: (a) by the collection of €644 million from ANFA’s, which was not foreseen in the 2022 Budget and (b) by the €636 million exceeding of the provision for the refundable deposit.

The total revenues of the state budget amounted to 36,852 million euros, increased by 5,562 million euros or 17.8% against the target.

More specifically, the revenues of the major categories of the state budget are as follows:

A. The revenues of the “Taxes” category amounted to 30,148 million euros, increased by 4,221 million euros or 16.3% compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.
This overperformance is due to: the extension of the deadline for the payment of traffic fees until the end of February 2022, the better performance of the previous year’s taxes collected in installments until the end of February 2022, the better performance in the collection of the current year’s taxes, as and in the collection of the first three installments of ENFIA during the months of May, June and July, while it was predicted that they would be collected in the months of September, October and November respectively.

In particular, the following are observed for the main taxes of this category:
• VAT revenues amounted to 11,968 million euros and are higher than the target by 1,153 million euros.
• The revenues of the Social Insurance Institutions amounted to 3,809 million euros and are reduced compared to the target by 192 million euros.
• Real estate tax revenues amounted to 1,904 million euros and are increased against the target by 1,245 million euros due to the collection of the first three installments of ENFIA, as mentioned above.
• Income tax revenues amounted to 8,445 million euros and are higher than the target by 1,053 million euros.

B. The income of the “Social Contributions” category amounted to 33 million euros and is increased by 1 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.

C. The revenues of the “Transfers” category amounted to 4,172 million euros, increased by 336 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget. Of the above received amount of 4,172 million euros, an amount of 1,563 million .euro concerns PDE revenues, which are reduced by 477 million euros compared to the target.

D. The revenue of the “Sales of goods and services” category amounted to 503 million euros, increased by 160 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.

E. The revenues of the category “Other current revenues” amounted to 1,989 million euros, increased by 838 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget. Of these, an amount of 215 million euros concerns PDE revenues, the which are increased by 95 million euros compared to the target.

F. The revenue of the category “Sales of fixed assets” amounted to 7 million euros, increased by 6 million euros compared to the target included in the report of the Budget 2022.

Revenue returns amounted to €3,149 million, up €758 million from the target (€2,391 million).

The total revenue of the Public Investment Budget (PDE) amounted to 1,778 million euros, reduced by 382 million euros from the target (2,160 million euros).

For July 2022, the total net revenues of the state budget amounted to 7,444 million euros, increased by 2,724 million euros compared to the monthly target. As mentioned above, the income for the month of July includes: in the category “Transfers” an amount of 644 million euros from ANFAs, which was not expected to be collected and in the category “Other current income” an amount of 897 million euros from the refundable advance payment.

The total revenues of the state budget amounted to 7,898 million euros, increased by 2,683 million euros compared to the estimate for the corresponding period included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.

More specifically, the revenues of the major categories of the state budget for July 2022 are as follows:

A. The revenues of the “Taxes” category amounted to 5,475 million euros, increased by 636 million euros or 13.1% compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.

In particular, the following are observed for the main taxes of this category:

• VAT revenues amounted to 2,115 million euros and are increased against the target by 168 million euros.
• The revenues of the Social Insurance Institutions amounted to 612 million euros and are reduced compared to the target by 72 million euros.
• Real estate tax revenues amounted to 240 million euros and are higher than the target by 193 million euros.
• Income tax revenues amounted to 1,961 million euros, and are increased against the target by 308 million euros.

B. The income of the “Social Contributions” category amounted to 5 million euros, increased by 1 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.

C. The revenues of the “Transfers” category amounted to 1,282 million euros, increased by 1,196 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget. Of the above received amount of 1,282 million euros, an amount of 513 million . euros refers to PDE revenues, which are increased by 433 million euros compared to the target.

D. The revenue of the category “Sales of goods and services” amounted to 133 million euros, increased by 48 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the Budget 2022.

E. The revenues of the “Other current revenues” category amounted to 1,003 million euros, increased by 803 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget. Of these, an amount of 3 million euros concerns PDE revenues, the which are reduced by 7 million euros compared to the target.

Revenue returns amounted to €455 million, down €41 million from the target (€496 million).

The total revenue of the Public Investment Budget (PDE) amounted to 516 million euros, increased by 426 million euros compared to the target (90 million euros).

The expenditure of the State Budget for the period January – July 2022 amounted to 38,288 million euros and is presented increased by 209 million euros compared to the target (38,079 million euros), which is included in the introductory report of the 2022 Budget.

In the section of the Regular Budget, the payments are shown reduced compared to the target by 581 million euros. This development is mainly due to the postponement of the payments of the equipment programs by 670 million euros. Payments for collateral forfeitures are also reduced by 392 million euros. On the contrary, increased payments in relation to the objectives are observed mainly in grants to OKA (by 559 million euros).

Payments in the investment expenditure arm amounted to 5,350 million euros, showing an increase of 789 million euros compared to the target of 4,561 million euros.

The provisional picture of the main expenditure payments for fiscal measures taken due to the pandemic for the period January – July is as follows:
a) the support of small and very small businesses affected by COVID-19 in the Regions in the amount of 160 million euros from the PDE,
b) the public contribution for the repayment of business loans of affected borrowers amounting to 79 million euros from the PDE,
c) the working capital subsidy for tourism businesses amounting to 42 million euros from the PDE,
d) the support of health institutions with auxiliary staff in the Regions in the amount of 53 million euros from the PDE,
e) the emergency grant of entertainment businesses, gyms, dance schools, etc., affected by the pandemic. amounting to 44 million euros, from the PDE,
f) the special purpose compensation expense of 149 million euros, which was paid by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (category of transfers),
g) the additional grants to EOPYY, in the amount of 90 million euros and to hospitals and DYPE, in the amount of 91 million euros, as well as the purchase of vaccines in the amount of 258 million euros,
h) the additional grant to DYPA (formerly OAED) in the amount of 400 million euros to cover the loss of revenue due to a reduction in employee insurance contributions and the grant to e-EFKA in the amount of 150 million euros to cover the loss of revenue from the reduction of contributions collected in favor of DYPA and
i) the state compensation of landlords amounting to 49 million euros, due to reduced rents they receive.

The provisional picture of the main payments of expenses for the measures to deal with the energy crisis, concerning the Central Administration, for the period January – July, is as follows:
a) a grant to OPECA of 207 million euros, which is broken down into the following sub-parts: 120 million euros for the extraordinary installment of the child benefit, 46 million euros for the payment of the increase in the income support of beneficiaries of the minimum guaranteed income, 33 million for the extraordinary financial support of the disabled and 7 million euros for the increase of the pension of the uninsured elderly,
b) a grant to the e-EFKA of 135 million euros for the extraordinary financial support of vulnerable pensioners,
c) grant to the Information Society for the support of natural persons and freelancers in order to deal with the increase in the cost of motor fuels (fuel pass) in the amount of 131 million euros and for the support due to increased electricity bills (power pass) in the amount of 280 million euros,
d) grant to OPEKEPE in the amount of 50 million euros to deal with the consequences in Greek livestock farming due to international developments,
e) special purpose compensation to support TAXI operators and drivers amounting to 5 million euros and
f) diesel fuel subsidy of €74 million.

For the period of January – July 2022, the state budget expenditures are presented reduced, compared to the corresponding period of 2021, by 1,195 million euros.