Greek primary budget surplus beats target in January-November period

Dec ‌17 (Reuters) - Greece recorded a central ‍government primary ‌budget surplus of 12.65 billion euros ($14.8 ⁠billion) in ‌the 11 months to the end of November, beating a targeted surplus of 7.70 ⁠billion euros, provisional data from the finance ​ministry showed on Wednesday.

The primary ‌surplus, which excludes ⁠debt-servicing costs, was driven by higher tax revenues and transfers, while spending ​remained below projected levels.

Tax revenues reached 64.97 billion euros in the period, about 330 million euros above ​target, ‍while expenditures were ​2.64 billion euros below target at 63.61 billion.

Interest payments were slightly higher than anticipated at 7.61 billion euros, but did not offset the primary ⁠result.

Greece has recovered from a debilitating 2009-2018 financial crisis ​and has overshot its fiscal targets, partly thanks to robust receipts from tackling tax evasion ‌and expanding electronic payments.

($1 = 0.8542 euros)

(Reporting by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Hugh Lawson)