After years of EU scrutiny, Greece promises balanced budget

By DEREK GATOPOULOS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has promised to return to a budget surplus in 2023, submitting its first spending blueprint in 12 years that isn’t under the direct scrutiny of European bailout lenders. Finance Ministry officials say Greece is planning to return to a primary surplus — the annual balance before debt servicing costs — of 0.7% of gross domestic product in 2023. That’s compared with a primary deficit of 1.7% of GDP this year. Achieving a balanced budget is a key demand from lenders during three successive international bailouts between 2010 and 2018 funded by European Union institutions and the International Monetary Fund. A so-called enhanced surveillance monitoring program of Greek public finances by European lenders expired earlier this year.