Big primary surplus era is over

Greece's budget has passed on from the primary surplus overruns from 2015 to 2018, to the precise achievement of the target for 3.5 percent of gross domestic product last year, and is now set to register a primary deficit this year due to the coronavirus.

The 2019 figures that the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) released on Wednesday spell the end of an era of excessive primary surpluses that deprived the economy of precious resources, totaling 13 billion euros in its effort to recover, according to the calculations of the previous government. Per the definition of the post-bailout program, the 2019 primary surplus was exactly 3.5 percent, and that was after the social dividend and the Single Property Tax reduction by this government as well as the rather euphemistically titled "13th pension" the SYRIZA administration handed out last spring.

However, in ESA ...