Debt payment plan uptake rises
Mechanisms for dues to the state and the pension funds have their deadlines extended as interest grows
Hundreds of thousands of state and social security debtors have entered an arrangement agreement for a total of at least 6.3 billion euros of arrears, per the latest data from the ministries of Finance and Labor. This sum is expected to grow considerably after the oneweek extension added to yesterday’s deadline for the payment plans of both ministries.
Data available last night, concerning the period up to September 27, showed that 370,000 social security debtors have entered a settlement agreement for total dues of 3 billion euros, while 384,402 tax debtors have arranged for arrears of about 3.3 billion euros to be settled, paying the first tranche too.
The figures do not include amounts owed by debtors that entered a settlement agreement over the weekend or yesterday, because banks update the Taxisnet online database with a delay of two to three days. This means that the sum of 6.3 billion is expected to grow significantly. The Finance Ministry has actually received 515,526 applications for settlement in the plan for up to 120 tranches for debts totaling 4.57 billion euros. However, the ministry has not yet been notified by the banks about the payment of the first installment. By the new deadline – next Monday – ministry officials expect the sum to top 5 billion euros.
Regarding social security contribution dues, the state has so far collected 325 million euros from those who paid the first tranche of their new repayment plan or the entire sum in one go, with projections putting the expected takings by the end of the year at about 500 million euros.
Out of the 3 billion euros of debts that entered the new mechanism, about a third, worth 1 billion, concerned last week’s applications alone. Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said it was this great participation over the last few days that led the government to grant an extra week for applications. He added that this will be the first and final extension, meant to facilitate debtors who rushed to enter the repayment mechanism at the last minute.