Public economics

By Sotiris Nikas

According to the 2014 budget, the Greek state achieved a 2.06-billion-euro primary surplus in the first couple of months, which is over 1 billion euros higher than the set target of 1.04 billion, despite a 580-million-euro revenues shortfall.

After a long wait, the new tax bill is expected to be presented in Parliament this week before being put to a vote. It includes numerous clauses aimed at dealing with a variety of outstanding issues.

By Nikos Roussanoglou

Serbia's public debt went up by EUR 178M in February reaching EUR 20.4B or 62.9% of the country's GDP, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

At the end of 2013, the public debt totaled EUR 20.089B or 61.2% of the GDP, and according to the Budget System Law, Serbia's public debt is limited to 45% of the GDP, the BGNES reports.

BELGRADE - Serbia's public debt went up by EUR 178 million in February reaching EUR 20.4 billion or 62.9 percent of the country's GDP, the Ministry of Finance has released on its website.

At the end of 2013, the public debt totaled EUR 20.089 billion or 61.2 percent of the GDP, and according to the Budget System Law, Serbia's public debt is limited to 45 percent of the GDP.

State employees are to stage on Wednesday a new nationwide strike in Greece.

They are demanding that the government in Athens abandon plans for fresh mass layoffs within the state sector which are a condition of the international bailout program, Dnevnik.bg has reported.

KOPAONIK - Serbia's budget deficit would reach seven, even eight percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, which would be the highest rate in the region, while GDP is expected to grow from zero to one percent, Chairman of the Fiscal Council Pavle Petrovic estimated on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - The deficit in the Serbian budget in January this year was RSD 7 billion, the Ministry of Finance has stated.

Budget revenue was RSD 72.2 billion and expenditure RSD 79.2 billion.

This information does not include the revenue and expenditure of indirect budget users, the ministry said.

Tax revenue was RSD 65.3 billion and non-tax revenue was RSD 6.3 billion.

Serbian farmers protest cuts in subsidies