The past couple months have been rather hard on public finances, with recent financial developments draining public funds, however in March the State Treasury reported that public revenue was up by 400 million euros. Confirmed sources suggest that this development will help cover the 930-million-euro shortfall documented since the January elections, by advisors of Greece’s creditors.

About 159 million euros were generated from the government’s “express debt settlements”, VAT payment from the past two months, as well as a surge in car sales and high-value real estate. The full extent of the public revenue increase will be made clear after the Easter holidays, when all data is collected and analyzed.

This development will also come as a relief to the government’s finance officers, as an IMF payment worth 465 million euros is due on the 9th of April and there were fears that Greece would be unable to pay. Nevertheless, the government appears determined to increase its efforts.

The next ten days will be critical, as the public debt management agency (ODDIH) will carry out a treasury bill auction on the 8th of April to refinance titles worth 1.4 billion euros, half of which are held by foreign banks that are not expected to participate. A large portion of the remaining titles are currently in private hands.

Confidence over agreement at upcoming Eurogroup

An agreement at the upcoming Eurogroup would give the government some more breathing space. The latest information suggests that in the recent Brussels Group meeting there was an overall agreement of 50-60% of reform measures presented by the Greek side. The creditors have urged the Greek government to introduce a VAT on gambling, as it has an annual turnover in excess of 5 billion euros.

Other reforms, such as changes in tax administration, balancing budgets and establishing a fiscal council were also accepted. The steps to ensure the independence of the Greek statistics authority (ELSTAT) have also been supported and are considered an essential step in restoring creditor confidence.