The budget deficit in January and February of 2009 totaled $10.35 billion.
According to Finance Ministry figures released on Tuesday, the state spent $2.27 billion more than it earned in January, while the budget deficit in the month of February reached $3.12 billion. Expenditures amounted to $44.93 billion while $39.54 billion entered the state coffers in the same period.
Budget spending rose by 0.07 percent in the January-February period when compared with the same months of 2009, while budget revenue increased by 15.5 percent in the same period. The primary surplus in the January-February period was $5.27 billion, a 60.7 percent increase over the same period a year before. Tax income rose by 21 percent in the first two months of 2010 over the same months of 2009. A wave of new tax hikes at the beginning of the year was the major factor behind the increase in tax revenue.
The amount of money allocated to social security premium payments increased by 53.6 percent in the first two months over the same period of the past year.
