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"The deficit is usual in this part of the year, mainly on account of high amount of payments for interest (on sovereign debt) and subsidies," a ministry statement said, adding payments for interest fell by 12.6 percent year-on-year to 402 million euros.
It said tax inflows rose by 8.5 percent in the first three months, due to favourable conditions in the economy, on the labour market and in household spending.
Budget spending for public sector wages rose by 5.8 percent, mainly due to the government's decision to raise most public sector wages by 4 percent from January.
The government plans a general government surplus of 0.6 percent this year versus 0.7 percent in 2018.
Reuters