The final budget execution figures for last year, released on Monday, show a primary surplus of 8.698 billion euros, compared to a target of a primary surplus of €4.635 billion and a primary surplus of €3.92 billion for the same period in 2023.
A significant part of the difference in relation to the target comes partly from the increased cash revenues from the Public Investments Program, by €612 million, partly from the transfer of expenditure payments for defense expenditure programs to 2025 by €740 million, and partly from the under-execution of transfers to the social security funds by €1.907 billion.
The defense spending and social security transfer shifts do not affect the result in budgetary terms. Excluding the above amounts, the positive difference in the primary surplus compared to the target amounts to €804 million, of which €411 million relates to the excess of tax revenues after refunds.
According to the state budget execution data, on a modified cash basis for the January-December 2024 period, there is a €369 million surplus in the state budget balance, against a target for a deficit of €3.601 billion included in the introductory report of the 2025 budget, and a deficit of €3.76 billion in the 12 months of 2023.