Greek gov't tables draft 2009 state budget

ATHENS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Greek government on Monday tabled the draft 2009 state budget in Parliament, anticipating a 3.6-percentage point increase in GDP and containment of the general government deficit to 1.8 percentage points.

According to the draft budget, which was submitted by Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis, net revenues are forecast at 65.8 billion euros, accounting for 25.1 percentage points of GDP, against 24.1 percent of GDP in 2008, while overall budget expenditures are forecast at 28.2 percentage points of GDP, against 28.3 percentage points in 2008.

Based on the above forecasts, the central government deficit will be contained at 3.1 percentage points of GDP, down from 4.2 percentage points in 2008, while the general government deficit will be trimmed to 1.8 percentage points of GDP, down from 2.3 percentage points in 2008.

According to the 2009 draft budget, the basic goal of the government's tax reforms are relief for physical entities, a further reduction of income tax, expansion of the tax base and curbing tax evasion.

Revenues from direct taxation are forecast at 26.9 billion euros, up 18.1 percent from 2008, while revenues from indirect taxation are estimated at 34.655 billion euros, up 10.4 percent from 2008.

Alogoskoufis said it is expected the reduction of the state debt to 88.4 percentage points, while unemployment is projected to drop to 7.3 percent, whereas inflation is estimated at 3.2 percent. Further, the average real salary will rise by 3.4 percent.

Unveiling the draft budget, Alogoskoufis said that it was in line with the framework of economic policy and aimed at growth, increasing employment, and social cohesion, while it takes into consideration the impact on the Greek economy from the global credit crisis, as well as an anticipated rise in food and other prices, and a rise in inflation.