State debts soar 32 pct in five months

The state’s expired debts had risen above the 5-billion-euro level by the end of May, against 3.8 billion at the start of the year. At the same time, the general government primary surplus continues to slide, with social security funds and hospitals as well as various other state entities recording deficits this year.

The state’s debts grew by 32 percent in just five months to reach 5.04 billion euros, the official data released by the Finance Ministry showed on Thursday. This increase highlights not only the halt to state payments that the government has proceeded to in order to cope with the state coffers’ low liquidity levels, but also the considerable deterioration of conditions in the real economy.

Despite the major increase in the debts of the state, the primary budget surplus amounted to just 557 million euros at end-May, against 1.1 billion euros at the same time last year.