ATHENS: the Greece Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas said net budget revenues significantly surpassed targets to total 4.232 billion euros in March, from a target of 3.16 billion.
Speaking to reporters, Mardas pledged that the government will continue paying wages and pensions, and expressed his optimism that an agreement will be reached between the country and its creditors. Responding to a question, Mardas did not exclude an obligatory transfer of cash reserves held by the wider public sector to the Bank of Greece (BoG) and recalled the examples of the Netherlands, the UK and Portugal where a similar status quo exists.
Mardas said budget spending totaled €4.539 billion in March, down from a budget target of 5.212 billion euros, with state budget deficit shrinking to 306 million euros, from a budget target of €2.041 billion.