State Budget revenues significantly exceeded the target in the first quarter of the year, based on data published by the Ministry of Finance.
Primary Surplus
According to the data available for the execution of the State Budget on a modified cash basis, the balance of the State Budget for the period from January to April 2024 presented a deficit of 250 million euros, against a deficit target of 2,699 million euros that was incorporated for the same period of 2024 in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget and a deficit of 789 million euros for the same period of 2023.
It should be noted that the first installment of ENFIA was collected in April, worth 903 million euros, while it was estimated to be collected in May (estimated value at 940 million euros).
Furthermore, an important part of the difference between the Primary Balance surplus over the target, in cash terms, is not accounted for in the 2024 Primary Balance in fiscal terms. As an indication, 159 million euros relating to revenue from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR) do not affect the result in tax terms, while a significant part of the difference in tax revenue, of 647 million euros, is accounted for in the result fiscal 2023. Therefore, the Primary Balance in fiscal terms differs significantly compared to the result in cash terms. It should be noted that this concerns the Primary Balance of the Central Administration and not of the Public Administrations as a whole, which also includes the fiscal results of legal entities and the LG and SSF subsectors.
January – April 2024
For the period from January to April 2024, net revenues from the State Budget amounted to 22,538 million euros, showing an increase of 2,340 million euros or 11.6% compared to the target for the corresponding period, which appears in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget, although the target of the Budget’s introductory report includes the amount of 1,797 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR), the majority of this, namely 1,687 million euros, was collected in December 2023 and an additional amount of 159 million euros was collected in January 2024.
Therefore, with the exception of the value above, net revenues outperform 3,978 million euros or 21.6% in relation to the target. This increase is mainly due to a) the increase in tax revenues by 2,031 million euros, after deducting tax refunds and b) the increase in GDP revenues by 1,151 million euros.
Total State Budget revenues amounted to 24,686 million euros, 2,388 million euros or 10.7% above the target.
Particularly for the main categories of tax revenue, the following is observed:
- VAT revenues amounted to 8,170 million euros, 215 million euros above the target.
- Revenues from excise taxes amounted to 2,115 million euros, 75 million euros above the target.
- Property tax revenue amounted to 1,165 million euros, 841 million euros higher than the target, due to the collection of the first installment of ENFIA, as mentioned above.
- Income tax revenues amounted to 6,246 million euros, 803 million euros above the target, of which IRS revenues increase by 233 million euros and IRS revenues increase by 478 million euros compared to the target.
Social Contributions amounted to 20 million euros, in line with the target.
Transfers amounted to 2,663 million euros, 517 million euros less than the target set out in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget due to: (a) the collection in December 2023 of the amount of 1,687 million euros plus an additional amount of 159 million euros in January 2024 from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF), which was initially estimated to be collected in March 2024 and (b) the increase in GDP revenues by 1,005 million euros compared to the target. In particular, an amount of 2,300 million euros, out of a total of 2,663 million euros, concerns GDP revenues.
Sales of goods and services amounted to 342 million euros, 42 million euros above the target set out in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
Other current revenue amounted to 1,400 million euros, 767 million euros above the target set out in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget, mainly due to the increase in revenue from the return of expenses by 290 million euros, as well as the collection of amount of 196 million euros, coming from interest deposits from the Bank of Greece in the first quarter, which were expected to be charged at the end of the semester. An amount of 205 million euros, of the 1,400 million euros, comes from GDP revenues. which is 146 million euros above the target.
Revenue from sales of fixed assets amounted to 16 million euros, compared to a target of zero.
Tax refunds amounted to 2,148 million euros, 48 million euros above the target (2,100 million euros).
Total GDP revenues amounted to 2,505 million euros, 1,150 million euros above the target (1,354 million euros).
In particular, in April 2024, net revenues from the State Budget amounted to 5,715 million euros, 1,909 million euros above the monthly target.