State is paying its arrears at snail’s pace

The Finance Ministry is obviously waiting for the bailout tranche from the second review in order to pay off part of the state’s debt to its suppliers.

According to data released on Tuesday by the State General Accounting Office, the state’s dues to suppliers and to taxpayers amounted to 4.959 billion euros at the end of April, against 5.076 billion euros at end-March. This marginal decline of 117 million euros does not mean the market has received a cash injection as the strategy of payment delay continues.

The total debts of ministries, social security funds, hospitals, local authorities and other state entities added up to 3.908 billion euros at end-April, down from 3.956 billion at end-March. Outstanding tax rebates reached 1.051 billion euros at the end of April, down from 1.12 billion euros a month earlier. The bulk of the state’s debts is owed by the social security funds (2.262 billion euros).