Taxes help Greece prune budget deficit to 8.1pc
(01-22 20:30)
Greece narrowed its budget deficit to 8.1 percent in 2012, a junior finance minister said, marking a rare improvement over targets pledged to its EU-IMF creditors.
“The final execution data for the budget show that the country met its fiscal targets in 2012,'' alternate finance minister Christos Staikouras said in a statement, AFP reports.
The budget deficit closed at 15.7 billion euros or 8.1 percent of output in 2012, compared to 22.8 billion euros or 10.9 percent of output in 2011, the ministry said.
The ministry attributed the result to an excess of 230 million euros in income tax collection and another 107 million euros in above-target property tax takings.
Greece was obliged to bring its budget deficit to 16.3 billion euros or 8.4 percent of output, Staikouras said.
The main indicator of fiscal progress is the public deficit, which is expected to be announced next month.
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