STA, 31 July 2019 - Slovenia's government budget posted a surplus of EUR 208.2 million for the first half of the year, which compares to a surplus of EUR 184.2 million in the same period a year ago, data from the Finance Ministry show.
The revised budget for 2019, passed in March, projects a revenue of EUR 10.35 billion and EUR 10.16 billion in expenditure with a surplus of EUR 193.6 million.
Compared to the first half of 2018, budget revenue this year increased by 6.8% to EUR 5.08 billion and expenditure was boosted by 6.5% to EUR 4.87 billion.
Tax revenue in the first half of 2019 stood at EUR 4.33 billion, up 4.6% year-on-year.
Receipts from personal income tax decreased by 1.3% to EUR 728.8 million due to a cut on tax on holiday allowance.
Meanwhile, corporate income tax revenue rose by 22.6% to EUR 555.6 million, and income from VAT rose by 4.2% to EUR 1.83 billion. But receipts from excise duties decreased by 3.5% to EUR 729 million.
On the expenditure side, the cost of debt servicing was reduced by EUR 81 million to EUR 523.4 million due to active management of government debt.
The outlays for public sector pay rose by 9% to EUR 677 million as a result of the agreed pay rises and promotions.
Expenditure on goods and services increased by EUR 30.5 million or 9.6%, mainly due to the cost of modernisation of the Slovenian Armed Forces and maintenance of road and rail infrastructure.
Social transfers were up by 12.6% to EUR 742.1 million.
Consolidated general government balance of payments, comprising the government budget, pension and health insurance funds and local government budgets, posted EUR 9.45 billion in revenue and EUR 9.19 billion in expenditure in the first half of 2019.
