Public sector arrears to private businesses remain stubbornly high. A further €57m was added to the total in September compared with August, taking it to €3.88bn.
About €1bn of that amount relates to pending tax refunds, a situation that is putting pressure on the cash flow of businesses and individuals waiting to get their taxes back.
The latest figures from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance show that hospitals account for the largest share of the unpaid bills.
Their debts rose to €1.367bn in September, from €1.331bn in August, €1.238bn in July and €1.307bn in June.
Overdue liabilities at Social Security Organisations fell slightly, by €17m, to €716m from €733m in August.
The total also includes outstanding debts of about €293m owed by EOPYY.
Overdue debts at local authorities continued to rise, reaching €341m from €329m in August and €314m in July.
The deterioration is even more apparent compared with the end of 2025, when debts owed by municipalities and regions had fallen to €180m. Debts owed by other public-sector legal entities also rose, reaching €301m in September from €250m the previous month.
Ministries
Ministries also ran up new arrears, with their overdue liabilities reaching €169m from €150m in August.
Of this, €61m relates to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, €44m to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, and €17m to the Ministry of National Defence.
By contrast, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, which is also setting an example in reducing state arrears and speeding up payments, has overdue liabilities of just €1m.
Pending tax refunds near €1bn
Pending tax refunds also remained at particularly high levels in September, despite edging down to €979m from €1.023bn in August.
Of the total, €362m relates to refunds outstanding for more than 90 days. Of these, €170m cannot be paid because of external factors, such as beneficiaries failing to respond or to submit the required documents.
The trend in the remaining overdue tax refunds outstanding for more than 90 days is concerning: they more than doubled in a month, reaching €192m from €90m in August. This reflects the significant delays in refunding money to businesses and taxpayers.
Pending tax refunds delayed by less than 90 days, however, fell to €617m from €775m the previous month.
Awaiting “Consistency”
Despite repeated calls from the finance ministry for General Government bodies to speed up payments, the figures paint a different picture.
Public sector debts to suppliers, businesses and beneficiaries continue to rise, shifting the burden of payment delays onto the market.
To address the problem, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance will launch the new “Consistency” platform in December. It will record and monitor in real time the state’s overdue debts to private parties, as well as the progress made by the responsible bodies and organisations in settling them. Bodies that systematically delay payment of their liabilities will be placed on a special “blacklist”.