Surplus in 2016 general government budget

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For the first time in nearly 20 years, Latvia's general government budget managed to record a surplus, in was revealed February 2 after revised figures showed that instead of previous expectations of a break-even budget, a surplus equivalent to 0.2% of GDP was posted.

It is the first time the general government budget has been in the black since 1998, the Finance Ministry said in a news release about the development.

"Although economic growth last year was significantly lower than previously projected, revenue growth was more rapid than economic growth rates," the Finance Ministry said. 

Compared to 2015, revenues increased by 416.9 million euros or 6.0% to just over 9 billion euros.

Tax collection rates were up and were "a a key factor in the overall revenue growth," the Ministry added.

Another important source of income was the confiscation of the assets of crime, which raked in nearly 47 million euros after Latvia seized assets from banks processing payments from suspected criminal sources.

The information is a feather in the cap of Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola, who was recently named one of the finance ministers of the year by trade paper The Banker.

It also comes just two days after Japanese rating agency R&I improved its outlook for Latvia to "positive" from "stable". 

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