ATHENS: Greece improved its public finances last year, achieving a primary budget surplus of 4.3 percent of economic output, beating a 3.5 percent target, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday.

It was the fourth consecutive year that Athens outperformed the target that excludes debt servicing costs, due to higher tax revenue and lower spending.

The larger-than-targeted surplus gives the government fiscal leeway to proceed with handouts in an election year and possibly negotiate with lenders to trim budget savings targets in the coming years.

Earlier on Tuesday, the country's statistics service released a first reading of fiscal 2018 data that showed a general government surplus of 1.1 percent of gross domestic product compared to 0.7 percent in 2017.

The figures showed that under European accounting guidelines ESA 2010, the general government primary budget balance reached a surplus of 4.4 percent of economic output last year.

Under the bailout programme, which ended in August 2018, Greece's primary surplus target last year was 3.5 percent of GDP. The target is the same for this year and up to 2022 as agreed with official lenders.

Different statistical treatment on some expenditure and revenue items between ESA 2010 and bailout methodologies explain the difference between the two primary surplus figures last year.

Statistic service figures showed that Greece's general government debt rose to 181.1 percent of GDP last year from a downwardly revised 176.2 percent in 2017.