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Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-10-03
CONTENTS
[01] Cabinet ratifies 2012 draft state budget
[01] Cabinet ratifies 2012 draft state budget
ANA-MPA/A cabinet meeting on Sunday night ratified the draft state
budget for 2012, which was presented by government Vice President and
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos. The draft budget will be tabled
at the Permanent Parliamentary Economic Affairs Committee on Monday,
according to the provisions of article 79 of the Constitution.
The budget's main fiscal indexes for 2012, as well as the point where the
budget for 2011 will close, were discussed at length with the European
Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) 'troika', both before and after its arrival in Athens.amna
The draft budget, according to an announcement by the Finance ministry, as
against a fiscal target of 2011 of a 17.1 billion euros deficit, meaning
7.8 percent of the current GDP, the deficit for 2011 is determined at
8.5 percent of the GDP (18.69 billion euros), in other words a deviation
of 0.7 percent of GDP is being recorded, due to recession (-5.5 percent)
that is much deeper than that predicted in May (-3.8 percent), when the
Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy Programme was prepared.
As has been agreed with the "troika", from the combined approach of the
targets of 2011 and 2012, in the framework of the Medium-Term Fiscal
Strategy Programme, achieving the fiscal target for 2012 (deficit of
6.8 percent of GDP or 14.65 bilion euros) is secured.amna
This amount of the total fiscal deficit (including the cost of serving
the public debt) in 2012, permits the production of a first stage surplus
of 3.2 billion euros or 1.5 percent of GDP, that signals Greece's entry
into a different fiscal phase.
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