2018.07.2006:54:00UTC+00Eurozone Govt. Deficit Narrows In Q1

The euro area government deficit continued to narrow in the first quarter as revenue increased amid a fall in expenditure, figures published by Eurostat showed Friday.

The general government deficit to GDP fell to 0.1 percent from 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter.

Data showed that government revenue rose to 46.3 percent of GDP from 46.1 percent. On the other hand, government expenditure dropped to 46.4 percent from 46.8 percent in the previous quarter.

Among euro area economies, the highest budget surplus of 2.5 percent was registered by Malta and the Netherlands. Germany logged a surplus of 2.4 percent of GDP.

Meanwhile, another report from Eurostat showed that euro area government debt to GDP rose marginally to 86.8 percent in the first quarter from 86.7 percent a quarter ago. At the end of the first quarter, the highest ratio of government debt to GDP was recorded in Greece, at 180.4 percent, followed by Italy with 133.4 percent.

According to Maastricht criteria, government deficit to GDP must not exceed 3 percent and government debt to GDP must not exceed 60 percent.