Ljubljana, 26 July (STA) - The Slovenian budget recorded a significant surplus in the first half of the year, indicating that the pace of fiscal consolidation will be faster than originally planned.
The surplus hit EUR 181m at the end of June; the adopted budget documents for 2018 forecast a surplus of EUR 51m for the whole year, follows from a budget implementation report released by the government on Thursday.
If the trend continues, the surplus is projected to reach EUR 227m at the end of the year.
In January-June, budget revenue, at EUR 4.75bn, was 4.4% higher than in the same period last year, whereas expenditure grew at a slower pace, 1.8%, to EUR 4.57bn.
Revenue was buoyed by a 6.9% increase in tax revenue, the main source of budget funds, mainly due to a solid labour market, higher consumption and better corporate performance.
On the expenditure side, the wage bill rose by 5.8% but interest payments declined by over 8% on the back of active debt management.
Public debt also declined considerably, dropping to 63% of GDP from 66.4% of GDP at the end of last year.
While the report stresses that the end-year figure may differ due to outstanding debt payments, new borrowing is not scheduled.