Greek Jan-Nov central govt budget surplus beats target

ATHENS: Greece's central government registered a primary budget surplus of 7.45 billion euros ($6.99 billion) in the 11 months to November, beating its target by 3.89 billion euros thanks to higher tax revenues, finance ministry data showed on Wednesday.

The central government surplus excludes the budgets of social security organisations and local administration. It is different from the figure monitored by Greece's EU/IMF lenders, but indicates the state of the country's finances.

The government's target was for a primary budget surplus- which excludes debt-servicing costs - of 3.55 billion euros for the January-November period.

Net tax revenue came in at 44.65 billion euros, 1.45 billion euros above target, while spending stood at 42.41 billion euros, 1.32 billion euros below target.

September and October have been traditionally strong in tax revenue as Greeks start paying property and income taxes.