08 February 2013

Kathimerini: Greece sees lower budget deficit in 2013, fiscal gap in 2016

New budget projections show that Greece expects to cut its budget deficit to 4.3 per cent of GDP this year, lower than previously forecast following debt relief measures, but faces a smaller primary surplus in 2016 than agreed with its lenders.

The deficit target for this year, unveiled in an updated 2013-16 medium-term budget plan, is smaller than an estimate of 5.5 per cent of GDP in the previous mid-term plan drafted in October. The government updated its 2013-16 projections to include debt relief measures agreed with Greece's lenders in December and set binding spending limits, a key condition for the continued flow of bailout funding by its eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund.

In the latest plan, submitted to parliament for approval, Athens also projected a smaller primary budget surplus - which excludes debt payments - for 2016 at 3.2 per cent of GDP. That is lower than the 4.5 per cent of GDP target agreed with lenders, meaning a €2.5 billion gap that will need to be bridged.

The government believes...that with the emphasis it will place on structural measures and growth initiatives, it will cover the small fiscal adjustment that might result in 2015.

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© Kathimerini