Revenues from taxes also exceeded the target
At 3.9 billion euros, the primary surplus of the state budget for 2023, according to the final data announced a while ago by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance.
It should be noted that the target was for a primary deficit of 851 million euros, while 2022 had closed with a primary deficit of 6.6 billion euros.
Tax revenues also exceeded the target, mainly based on VAT and the income tax.
In detail, the announcement of the Ministry of Finance is as follows:
According to the execution data of the state budget, on a modified cash basis, for the period January – December 2023, there is a deficit in the balance of the state budget of 3,760 million euros against a target for a deficit of 8,338 million euros that has been included for the corresponding period of 2023 in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget and a deficit of 11,656 million euros in the corresponding period of 2022. The primary result on a modified cash basis was a surplus of 3,920 million euros, against a target for a primary deficit of 851 million euros and a primary deficit of 6,652 million .euro for the same period in 2022.
With regard to the observed difference against the targets in the primary result in cash terms, it is noted that they mainly concern amounts that do not affect the General Government fiscal result according to ESA, which is formed after integrating the elements of the General Government entities and the national accounting adjustments.
More specifically, an amount of 1,687 million euros related to the collection during the month of December from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, which was foreseen for collection in the first quarter of 2024, as well as the largest part of the observed under-execution of cash payment of expenses amounting to 2,767 million .euro (such as the deferral of cash payments for equipment costs, transfers to General Government bodies, etc.) do not affect the primary result on an accrual basis.
It is noted that net tax revenues (taking into account tax refunds) showed a twelve-month increase of 292 million euros against targets, which was mainly due to November revenues, as December was close to targets. This increase was offset by an increase in Public Investment Program payments of €362 million against targets.
In the period January – December 2023, the amount of net revenues of the state budget amounted to 67,005 million euros, showing an increase of 1,810 million euros compared to the target included for the corresponding period in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget. This over-execution is due mainly in the collection in December of the amount of 1,687 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RDF), which was predicted to be collected in March 2024. Excluding the above amount from the RDF, net income shows an increase of 123 million. euros or 0.2% against the target, despite the reduced PDE revenues.
The total revenues of the state budget amounted to 73,998 million euros, increased by 2,126 million euros or 3.0% against the target.
More specifically, the revenues of the major categories of the state budget are as follows:
I. The revenues of the “Taxes” category amounted to 61,627 million euros, increased by 608 million euros or 1.0% compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
In particular, the following are observed for the main taxes of this category:
* VAT revenues amounted to 23,385 million euros and are increased against the target by 154 million euros.
* The revenues of the Social Insurance Institutions amounted to 7,018 million euros and are reduced compared to the target by 20 million euros.
* Real estate tax revenues amounted to 2,491 million euros and are 49 million euros short of the target.
* Income tax revenues amounted to 20,884 million euros and are higher than the target by 318 million euros.
II. The revenues of the “Social Contributions” category amounted to 58 million euros, increased by 2 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
III. The revenues of the “Transfers” category amounted to 7,530 million euros, increased by 1,300 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget, mainly due to the collection within 2023 of an amount of 1,687 million euros from the TAA, as mentioned above. Of the above collected amount of 7,530 million euros, an amount of 3,042 million euros concerns PDE revenues.
IV. The revenue of the “Sales of goods and services” category amounted to 848 million euros, reduced by 121 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
V. The income of the “Other current income” category amounted to 3,930 million euros, increased by 338 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget. From the above received amount of 3,930 million euros, an amount 465 million euros concern PDE revenues.
Revenue returns amounted to €6,993 million, up €316 million from the target (€6,677 million).
The total revenues of the Public Investment Program (PIP) amounted to 3,507 million euros, reduced by 256 million euros from the target (3,763 million euros).
In particular, in December 2023 the total net revenues of the state budget amounted to 7,841 million euros, increased by 1,613 million euros against the monthly target, mainly due to the collection of 1,687 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, as mentioned above. Not including the above amount, net revenues show a decrease of 74 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the Budget 2024. The total revenues of the state budget amounted to 8,566 million euros, increased compared to the monthly target by 1,796 million . euro.
More specifically, the revenues per major category of the state budget for December 2023 are as follows:
I. The revenues of the “Taxes” category amounted to 5,586 million euros, increased by 160 million euros or 3.0% compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
In particular, the following are observed for the main taxes of this category:
* VAT revenues amounted to 1,722 million euros and are increased against the target by 23 million euros.
* The revenues of the EFCs amounted to 628 million euros and are reduced compared to the target by 14 million euros.
* Real estate tax revenues amounted to 127 million euros and are 27 million euros short of the target.
* Income tax revenues amounted to 1,984 million euros and are higher than the target by 134 million euros.
II. The revenues of the “Social Contributions” category amounted to 5 million euros, increased by 1 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
III. The revenues of the “Transfers” category amounted to 2,107 million euros, increased by 1,454 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget. An amount of 1,687 pertains to income from the TAA, as mentioned above, while an amount of 373 million euros concerns PDE revenues, which are reduced by 53 million euros compared to the target.
IV. The revenue of the “Sales of goods and services” category amounted to 53 million euros, reduced by 116 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget.
V. The revenues of the “Other current revenues” category amounted to 814 million euros, increased by 302 million euros compared to the target included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget. An amount of 180 million euros concerns PDE revenues, which are increased by 137 million euros against the target.
Revenue returns totaled €726 million, up €182 million from the target (€543 million).
The total revenues of the Public Investment Program (PIP) amounted to 553 million euros, increased by 84 million euros from the target (469 million euros).
The expenses of the State Budget for the period January – December 2023 amounted to 70,765 million euros and are presented reduced by 2,767 million euros compared to the target (73,533 million euros), which is included in the introductory report of the 2024 Budget. They are also reduced , in relation to the corresponding period of 2022, by 513 million euros, mainly due to the reduced cash payments of the equipment programs of the Ministry of National Defense, taking into account countervailing changes in other categories of expenses.
In the section of the Regular Budget, the payments are shown reduced compared to the target by 3,147 million euros. This development is mainly due to the under-execution of the cash payments of the equipment programs of the Ministry of National Defense by 557 million euros, as well as the under-execution of transfers amounting to 471 million euros. At the same time, there was no full consumption of the credits under allocation. This was also contributed by the fact that part of the needs of the General Government bodies were served using own resources, without the need for an additional state grant.
Notable payments include: the grant to the Information Society M.A.E. in the amount of 821 million euros, to serve the needs of the Market Pass and its extension, the return to the Energy Transition Fund of 367 million euros of surplus energy producers, for the period from October 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, as well as the Diesel heating subsidy payments of EUR 100 million during the first five months of the year 2023. All the aforementioned payments were covered by redistributing credits from the reserve to promote actions to deal with the energy crisis (credits under allocation).
Payments in the investment expenditure arm amounted to 11,201 million euros, showing an increase of 379 million euros compared to the target. The expenditure of the PDE includes an amount of 133 million euros for the provision of COVID-19 measures, the most important of which are the strengthening of health institutions with auxiliary staff to respond to the needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Regions, the support of start-ups in the framework of Elevate Greece, the creation of a network of nurses for the collection of samples of biological material and nursing assistance in suspected cases of coronavirus at home and the grant of existing small and medium-sized enterprises in the retail sector, which maintain a physical store, for the development, upgrading and management online store.
