Public revenues fall in July and first half of 2016

Fears this could activate ‘automatic cutter’

Public revenue for the month of July and the first six-month term of 2016 have plummeted, according to data on the state budget execution by the Finance Ministry. For July the revenue is off target by 755 million Euros, while there is a 2.2% discrepancy for the projected cash inflow of the first half of 2016. Net revenues for the month of July amounted to 5,031 billion Euros, 755 million below the budget forecast, while net revenues for the first half of 2016 stood at 28,019 billion Euros, 621 million Euros less than the budget plan. The Finance Ministry believes this is due to taxpayers failing to pay their income taxes, and is concerned this could cause the activation of the ‘automatic cutter’, a set of measures agreed upon with Greece’s creditors that kick in to balance the budget in the event fiscal projections were off target.