Greece's state budget deficit totaled 9.098 billion euros in the first four months of the year, significantly lower from a budget target of 11.009 billion euros, the Finance ministry said on Friday.

In a statement, the ministry said that the state budget recorded a primary shortfall of 1.679 billion euros, also significantly lower from a budget target of 3.262 billion.

Net budget revenue totaled 16.193 billion euros in the January-April period, down from a budget target of 16.641 billion euros, while regular budget revenues totaled 14.654 billion euros in the four-month period, down from budget target of 14.989 billion.

The ministry attributed this negative development to lower VAT receipts. The Public Investments Programme's revenues totaled 1.539 billion euros, down from a budget target of 1.652 billion.