Greek 2013 Primary Deficit Beats Target

While the Greek economy shrank 5.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter this year, the Finance Ministry said the primary deficit also fell as deep spending cuts offset less-than-expected tax revenues that were far off the mark despite big tax hikes.
The ministry said the numbers showed the  country is on target to meet fiscal targets set by international lenders in return for continued bailout loans. The primary deficit doesn’t include interest payments which are huge.
The finance ministry said the budget shortfall for the January to May period dropped to 984 million euros ($1.30 billion) from 2.35 billion euros ($3.1 billion) a year earlier, beating a target of 4.2 billion euros ($5.5 billion)
Budget spending fell to 23 billion euros ($30.39 billion) from 30.5 billion euros ($40.3 billion) in the first five months of 2012.
“After completing the first five months of the year, the fiscal view of Greece is improving and it is possible to achieve a primary surplus (by the end of the year),” Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told reporters. That will come on the backs of workers, pensioners and the poor who’ve been under big pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions.
On the revenue side, income fell to 19.15 billion euros ($25.3 billion) from 19.6 billion euros ($25.9 billion) previously, an unexpected drop of $600 million despite big tax hikes as austerity measures have made many Greeks slow spending almost to a standstill.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the New Democracy Conservative leader, is hoping to convince envoys from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) who are in Athens checking the books to allow the Value Added Tax of 23 percent to be reduced for restaurants with tourist season in full swing but has been rebuffed so far.