FRANKFURT (MNI) – The following is the verbatim text of a press
release from the Greek Finance Ministry saying that its general
government deficit for January to August of this year totals E14.1725
billion:

The Ministry of Finance is publishing today for the first time
monthly data on the General Government deficit and arrears for the
January to August 2010 period. These data will be updated and published
on a monthly basis from now on in the context of the effort to improve
transparency and monitoring of fiscal developments.

The General Accounting Office is responsible for collecting this
data from all available sources (the Bank of Greece, the Hellenic
Statistical Authority and other Bodies and Services of the Central
Government and broader public sector), processing and publishing it.

The quality and accuracy of this data will improve as collection
and processing methods advance. From January 1 2011 onwards this data
will be collected via the public expenditures information system which
is currently in the final stages of implementation.

The data includes revenue data- or net acquisition of financial
assets – expenditure data – or net incurrence of liabilities -on a cash
basis as well as data on arrears (those more than 90 days overdue).

None of these data have been adjusted to the European System of
Accounts (ESA 95) and as such are not strictly comparable with the
annual fiscal targets of the Economic Policy Programme. However, it
should be noted that the Programme’s quarterly review takes into account
quantitative cash targets.

Based on the data available the General Government deficit on a
cash basis for the period January to August 2010 was 14,172.5 million
euro.

Arrears for the State Budget – including the Ordinary Budget and
the Public Investment Budget – were 376.04 million euro. It should be
noted that under the Economic Policy Programme all debts in arrears need
to be paid off at the end of each year. This has been taken into account
for the projections for the State Budget deficit, as well as the Draft
Budget for 2011 and both with include this data.

Respectively, General Government arrears up to 31-7-2010 are
estimated at 7.2 billion euro, 5.3 billion of which concern hospital
debts which have already been taken on board under law N.3867/2010, and
for which repayments have already begun. The repayment of this debt has
already been accounted for in the projections for the 2010 General
Government fiscal results – deficit and debt.

The Ministry of Finance is committed to continuously improving the
quality of fiscal data published and to creating new and strong
mechanisms and institutions dedicated to transparency and accountability
for its citizens and its international partners, thereby securing a
sustainable fiscal adjustment.

[TOPICS: M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MT$$$$]