United States public debt

BELGRADE - In the first two months of this year, thanks mostly to fiscal consolidation measures and higher non-tax revenues, Serbia saw a budget surplus of RSD 1.9 billion.

Bulgaria's gross foreign debt totalled EUR 38.2B as of end-August, increasing 2.2% from a year earlier and 2.3% higher compared with end-2013, the central bank has said.

Gross foreign debt was equivalent to 94.3% of projected 2014 Gross Domestic Product as of end-August, the Bulgarian National Bank said in a statement on Thursday.

Greece has achieved a primary surplus of 2.5 billion euros, or 1.4 percent of gross domestic product, between January and September this year, the government said Tuesday.

The figure, which was announced Tuesday by Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, has hovered the target of 1.5 billion euros, or 0.8 percent of GDP, laid out in the government’s midterm fiscal program.

BELGRADE - The Fiscal Council of Serbia released on Tuesday that the country's deficit could total RSD 147 billion or around 8.5 percent of the GDP, while the public debt added up to EUR 22.4 billion or around 71 percent of the GDP at the end of August 2014, which constitutes a EUR 1.66 billion increase since the beginning of the year.

Bulgaria's public debt at the end of July 2014 amounted to EUR 9.4242B, according to data revealed by the Ministry of Finance.

In just a month, Bulgarian government debt has increased by almost EUR 1.31B. The main reason for the growth is the issuance of eurobonds at the international capital markets, the Financial Ministry report showed.

By Dimitris Kontogiannis

Commenting on the findings of a recent Eurostat study titled “Taxation Trends in the European Union,” Alpha Bank has described the obligations of taxpayers in Greece as burdensome.

The study disclosed that annual tax revenues derived from capital in Greece represented 7.3 percent of GDP, compared to a European Union average of 6.7 percent.

Bulgaria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 1.6% in Q2 2014 over the same quarter of the previous year and by 0.5% compared to Q1 2014.

According to Bulgaria's national Statistical Institute flash GDP estimates for Q2 2014, the GDP at current prices amounted to BGN 19 215M. The Gross Value Added (GVA) at current prices amounted to BGN 16 423M.

A leading Greek think-tank on Wednesday said it had accepted a commission from the former chief of the Athens 2004 Olympics to study the event’s true cost, deemed the most expensive ever at the time.

Public debt increases by over EUR 0.5bn

BELGRADE -- Serbia's public debt rose by over EUR 0.5 billion since the beginning of 2014, and totaled EUR 20.66 billion at the end of June, the finance ministry has said.