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Data
released by Greek statistics service ELSTAT -- to be confirmed
on Monday by the European Union -- showed the primary budget
balance, which excludes debt servicing, hit a surplus of 3.9
percent of gross domestic product last year versus a downwardly
revised 2.3 percent deficit in 2015.
This was calculated under European System of Accounts
guidelines, which differs from that used by Greece's
International Monetary Fund-European Union creditors in bailout
deliberations.
But the IMF-EU number is expected to be even better.
A Greek government official told Reuters that last year's
primary budget surplus under the bailout program reached "about
4 percent, or slightly higher".
That compares with a bailout surplus target of 0.5 percent of
GDP and with a primary budget surplus target of 1.75 percent of
GDP this year.
Debt-strapped Greece and its creditors have been at odds for
months over the country's fiscal performance, delaying the
conclusion of a key bailout review which could unlock needed
bailout funds.
The IMF, which has reservations on whether Greece can meet high
primary surplus targets, has yet to decide if it will fund
Greece's current bailout, which expires in 2018.
The 2016 outperformance could lead the fund to revise some of
its projections. The IMF's participation is seen as a condition
for Germany to unlock new funds to Greece.
Athens hopes to discuss the fund's participation and its
projections at the sidelines of the IMF's spring meetings in
Washington.
Analysts attributed the outperformance to the implementation of
bailout measures and increased efforts to improve the state's
revenue collection capacity.
"It's an impressive outperformance versus the bailout program
target for the primary surplus," said Athens-based Eurobank's
chief economist Platon Monokroussos.
"The data suggests that the 2017 fiscal target under the bailout
program is fully attainable under the current baseline
macroeconomic scenario," he said.
(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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