Government's 2010 Budget Surplus Revised to 0.2%
New calculations from Statistics Estonia have pegged the country's 2010 general government surplus at 0.2 percent, up slightly from the preliminary figure of 0.1 percent announced in March.
The change, resulting from a VAT-related methodological correction, puts the surplus at 35.2 million euros compared to the earlier estimate of 18.3 million euros.
The revised figures show that the central government spent 77.6 million euros more than it took in last year, despite getting a 158-million-euro injection from sales of carbon emission credits.
Local government surplus, meanwhile, was 30.5 million euros and the surplus from social security funds was 82.3 million euros.
Estonia was the only EU country to register a budget surplus in 2010.
The Ministry of Finance has said it does not expect a repeat performance until 2013, however. In spring it estimated that this year's deficit would be 0.4 percent and next year's 2.8 percent. Earlier this month, the government mentioned a 2.1 percent deficit estimate for 2012.
Steve Roman