[Intime News]
The Greek state is not just owed money by delinquent taxpayers, it also owes money, more than half to suppliers of state hospitals.
In June, overdue state debts dropped slightly, to €2.929 billion, from €3.064 billion in May, according to data released Thursday by the Finance Ministry.
But debt to hospital suppliers, especially of medical and tech equipment, which reached €1.6 billion in May, only dropped by a meager €1.599 billion in June.
That same month, the European court found Greece had violated a European Union directive against payment delays in trade transactions. In its decision, the court noted that the Greek state is violating the payment delay limit of 60 days set by the directive.
“Many of the invoices are paid much later that the payment deadline. These delays have a negative impact on [suppliers’] liquidity and make their financial management more complicated.
They also affect their competitiveness and efficiency, when [the suppliers] are forced to resort to outside financing to compensate for payment delays,” the court decision says.
For its part, the Finance Ministry claims that €1 billion of the debt is offset by rebates and clawbacks.