Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in an interview published in Sunday’s edition of To Vima, which hit newsstands on Saturday evening:

  • “The primary budget surplus is much higher than we had initially estimated … I am telling you now that it exceeds 1.5 billion euros, three times as big as we initially calculated,”
  • The primary budget surplus for 2013, which excludes interest payments and other one-off items, has come in at over 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion)
  • Much higher than initial estimates and targets set by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund

More detail at Reuters