Greece’s primary budget deficit widens due to COVID-19 slump
The country raised $2.43 billion by reopening a 30-year bond through a private placement with two Greek banks, the first borrowing action for 2021
Greece’s central government recorded a primary budget deficit of 18.2 billion euros ($21.95 billion) in the 12 months to December, lower than a revised target for a deficit of 19.6 billion, finance ministry data showed.
The government revised its target for last year’s primary budget balance from a surplus to a deficit when it submited its 2021 budget to parliament.
The deficit in January-to-november was 13.8 billion euros, meaning the gap widened in December.
Budget revenue reached 47.4 billion euros, 906 million above target last year, while spending totalled 70.2 billion euros, 605 million below the revised target, the figures showed.
Greece spent about 24 billion euros in 2020 to support businesses and employees who were adversely affected by restrictive measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It plans to spend about 7.0 billion euros more in the first quarter of this year.
Greece raised 2 billion euros ($2.43 billion) by reopening a 30-year bond through a private placement with two Greek banks, according to the official government gazete, the first borrowing action for 2021.
National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank participated in the transaction. The Greek debt agency issued a 30-year bond last year through a private placement.
The setlement day is Jan. 20, according to a ministerial decree published late on Monday in the government gazete.
Yield is in the area of 1.5%, according to market sources.
Greece has said it plans to borrow 8-12 billion euros on the bond markets this year, as it seeks to maintain a continuous presence in the international debt markets, while cuting a debt-to-gdp ratio estimated at 208.9% in 2020 and preserving an adequate cash buffer
A senior official told Reuters in December that Greece wants to make at least one issue on the markets each quarter for the next 15 months.
Greece will loosen more lockdown restrictions on February 1, leting high schools reopen for the first time in more than two months based on signs that the spread of COVID-19 infections has stabilised, officials said on Friday.
The country, in lockdown since early November due to a spike in coronavirus cases, has seen pressure on its public health system relent in the last few weeks.
Greece has already taken its first steps at loosening a second lockdown imposed in November, reopening primary schools and kindergartens, retail shops and hair salons.
“Ater a positive recommendation by the commitee of experts, high schools will reopen on Feb. 1. Students will be able to return to classrooms,” Education Minister Niki Kerameos said.
Vana Papaevangelou, a member of the commitee of experts advising the government, told a briefing the number of coronavirus infections had steadied in recent weeks and the occupancy rate in intensive care units was now down to 44%.
She said infections looked to have plateaued and were showing downward trends, with new cases averaging 477 on a daily basis.
“One month ater Christmas we can say that the surge of the epidemic we feared did not occur. The commitee’s recommendation to reopen high schools ater 2.5 months was unanimous,” Papaevangelou said.
On Friday health authorities reported 585 new COVID-19 cases nationwide and 28 related deaths, bringing the total of infections since the first case was detected in February 2020 to 151,041, and total deaths to 5,598.
The lockdown’s remaining restrictions - affecting mainly restaurants, bars, coffee shops and theatres - were extended for at least one more week.
Meanwhile, the European Commission proposed to EU leaders on Thursday identifying “dark red” coronavirus hot spots from which all but essential travel would be discouraged ater a meeting to discuss the mounting challenge from more infectious virus variants.
EU leaders also agreed during a video conference that it should be possible to agree on common standards for vaccine certificates for medical purposes. However, they let for later a debate on whether they could be used to enable travel, as Greece and Spain want.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference ater the meeting that the health situation in Europe was “very serious”, with new variants and an increase in infections.
She stressed that countries should not close their borders, to ensure the functioning of the single market, including the flow of goods and travel for cross-border workers.
However, she said the Commission would add a new “dark red” category to its traffic light indications of risk, for regions where the virus was circulating at a very high rate. Today, almost all of Europe is red.