Greek Ministry of Finance released the budget execution (final) data, on a modified cash basis, for 9 month of 2012.

-Net revenues eased 2.4% y-o-y (8M: -0.2%, Sep: -18.3%) to €34,142m, €567m or 1.6% below the 9-month target of €34,709m. Furthermore, 9-month reported revenues correspond to 69.7% (or 8.4/12) of the (revised) FY’12 target of €48,951m (previous target: €51,409m).

-Expenditure slipped 12.7% y-o-y (8M: -10.4%, Sep: -32.6%) to €46,637m, in line with the 9-month target of €46,712m. In addition, 9-month reported expenditure accounts for 75.4% (or 9.0/12) of the (revised) FY’12 target of €61,858m (previous target: €62,998m).

State budget balance exhibited a deficit of €12,720m, €71m above preliminary figure, from €20,101m last year, down 36.7% y-o-y, while September recorded a deficit of just €238m from €1,429m last year.

Primary deficit retreated 65.9% y-o-y to €2,070m from €6,069m last year, beating 9-month target of €2,879m by €809m or 28.1%, with September recording a primary deficit of €658m from surplus of €1,671m in August and €234m in July.

Revenues resumed a negative trend in September significantly dropping by 24.5%, after an exceptionally good performance in August (up 24.7%), reflecting (among others) the extension given to taxpayers to pay September tax obligations in October, bringing the 9-month figure down 5.8% y-o-y (8M’12: -3.1%). Despite the revision of FY’12 – and consequently monthly – targets, 9M’12 revenues continued falling short of targets by €0.75bn (from €1.45bn in 8M’12 under the previous targets). Furthermore, primary expenditure continued heading south for eighth month in a row, yet at a decelerating pace, easing by 5.3% in September following a drop of 14.7% in August and 17.4% in July, bringing the 9-month figure down 8.9% y-o-y in line with (revised) target.

Overall, 9-month budget deficit slipped 36.7% y-o-y (the highest drop so far in 2012) to €12.7bn.