The Greek state uncharacteristically went into “overdrive mode” in September to drastically reduce arrears to the private sector, a memorandum-mandated provision that was also the primary condition for the release of an 800-million-euro sub-tranche in bailout money held back from last July’s disbursement.
The sub-tranche was released by the ESM after creditors’ positive recommendation, which came last week amid negotiations between Athens and the latter’s top auditors.
Specifically, arrears by the general government (all entities affiliated to the state, such as hospitals, funds etc) eased to 3.559 billion euros in August 2017. Outstanding tax returns and rebates dropped from 2.114 billion euros to 931 million between August and September 2017.
In total, the state’s arrears now stand at 4.49 billion euros, down from roughly six billion euros, with the month-to-month reduction over the August-September period reaching 1.5 billion euros.
