ATHENS – The Greek general government budget recorded a deficit of 6.014 billion euros in the January-April 2020 on a cash basis, after a deficit of 1.138 billion in the corresponding period in 2019, the Bank of Greece said on Monday.

The central bank, in a report, attributed this development mainly to government measures taken to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic (the general government deficit soared to 2.5 billion euros in April from 35 million in April 2019).

In the four-month period, regular budget revenues amounted to 13.062 billion euros, down from 14.626 billion last year, while regular budget spending was 18.139 billion euros from 16.565 billion in 2019. The general government budget recorded a primary deficit of 2.6 billion euros from a primary surplus of 1.176 billion in 2019.