The finance ministry on Thursday announced that state arrears to the private sector were reduced by 101 million euros last month, bringing down the total to 3.458 billion euros.
The same figure at the end of December 2016 was 3.689 billion euros, and at 3.559 billion euros at the end of September 2017.
A further reduction in arrears is expected, given that Greek state coffers were boosted by an 800-million-euro sub-tranche of bailout money left over from a main tranche disbursed in July. Another 800 million euros will be disbursed by the ESM in February 2018, assuming talks go as planned to conclude the third review of the ongoing bailout.
Based on the previous formula, the Greek state must contribute 50 percent of the amount allocated for covering arrears.
