State pays off some debts but creates more

Despite the money lent to the government for it to pay off its expired debts to third parties, the figure remained unchanged at the end of October from end-September, at 6.3 billion euros, according to official data issued by the Finance Ministry yesterday.

The reason for that was because, although 200 million euros’ worth of debts to suppliers was paid off in that time, the outstanding tax rebates increased by the same amount.

Total debts to third parties have increased by 330 million euros since the start of the year due to the state’s inability to pay its dues to taxpayers and corporations, even though the government received 1.8 billion euros from its creditors precisely for the purpose of paying off its debts. That means the state is continuing to create new debts.

Besides that, the Finance Ministry data showed the general government budget posted a primary surplus of 6 billion euros in the first 10 months of the year, against 4.7 billion in the same period last year.