Greece's budget hit a primary surplus of 5.725 billion euros in the first seven months of 2026, beating the government's...

Greece's budget hit a primary surplus of 5.725 billion euros in the first seven months of 2026, beating the government's own target by around 1.3 billion euros, according to figures released by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance. Tax revenues reached 42.9 billion euros for the January to July period, coming in 1.1 billion euros above target even after stripping out one-off items. Net state revenues totaled 45.2 billion euros, surpassing the budget forecast by nearly 2 billion euros. The results mark a clear outperformance on the revenue side. Stripping out a 306 million euro receipt tied to the Egnatia Motorway concession deal and a 135 million euro casino license installment from the Hellinikon project, which had originally been expected in late 2025, tax revenues still beat targets by 2.7%. July alone saw tax receipts come in 528 million euros, or 6.2%, above the monthly target. Spending also ran higher than planned. Total state expenditure for January through July reached 45.6 billion euros, about 1 billion euros over the budgeted figure, driven largely by accelerated Recovery Fund project payments. On the cash deficit measure, the state recorded a shortfall of 389 million euros for the period, well below the targeted deficit of 1.323 billion euros. The ministry noted that the primary surplus figures cover the central government only and not the broader general government, which includes local authorities and social security entities. A final bulletin with the precise breakdown across revenue categories will be published separately. #Greece #GreekEconomy #Budget