Government reports expenses worth 6bn euros for last December

According to data published by the Finance Ministry yesterday, the general consolidated budget closed last year with a deficit amounting to 1.68% of the GDP (1.6 billion euros), as a result of the record expenses, worth 6 billion euros, registered last December. The 5.96 billion euros spent last December mark a high watermark, as expenses saw a 2.5-fold rise against the average value registered over the first 11 months of last year. The budget underwent a change from a surplus standing at 1.23% to a deficit amounting to 1.68% of GDP within a single month. A similar situation was registered in 2005 when the budget posted a deficit (worth 0.8% of GDP) in December. According to figures provided by the Finance Ministry, investments (capital expenses) accounted for one quarter of the expenses registered in December 2006, namely more than 1.5 billion euros. Another record: the investments made in December 2006 stood at 70% of the amount invested over the first 11 months of last year. Overall, the state invested 3.6 billion euros last year, compared with the 2.08 billion euros invested in 2005, which shows in a 73% increase year-on-year. The Finance Ministry also commented that the deductions for the investment programmes developed throughout last year were paid in December, which explains the high figure reported for investments for that month.