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Government Posts €0.6 Million Surplus For Second Quarter 2025, Signaling Robust Fiscal Recovery

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 23, 2025

Impressive Shift From Deficit to Surplus

The General Government registered a fiscal surplus of €0.6 million in the second quarter of 2025 (April–June), according to preliminary data from the Statistical Service. This turnaround is particularly notable when contrasted with the €68.7 million deficit recorded during the same period in 2024, underscoring a significant improvement in the nation’s fiscal health.

Revenue Growth Outpaces Last Year

Total revenues increased by €307.8 million (a 9.5% jump), climbing from €3,237 million to €3,544.8 million compared with the corresponding quarter of 2024. This robust performance was driven by several key components:

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Social Contributions: Up by €81.7 million (7.5%), reaching €1,177.9 million.
Income & Wealth Taxes: Increased by €100.6 million (19.8%), totaling €607.7 million.
Production & Import Taxes: Rose by €45.2 million (3.8%), to €1,226.4 million, with the net VAT income up by €22.9 million (2.9%) arriving at €811.9 million.
Property Income: Grew by €55.3 million, reaching €84.2 million.
Capital Transfers: Recorded a substantial increase of €47.9 million (86.6%), aggregating €103.2 million.

On the downside, the government noted reductions in current transfers (a decline of €15.8 million or 10.9%) and in revenues derived from goods and services (a decrease of €7.1 million or 3.2%).

Expenditure Trends and Fiscal Discipline

Total expenditures climbed by €238.5 million (7.2%), reaching €3,544.2 million compared with €3,305.7 million in the corresponding quarter of 2024. Key expenditure areas include:

Social Benefits: Increased by €72.9 million (5.2%), totaling €1,466.6 million.
Personnel Costs: Rose by €60.5 million (6.7%), reaching €965 million.
Property Income Payable: Up by €21.5 million (13.7%).
Intermediate Consumption: Increased by €62.3 million (19.4%), arriving at €383.6 million.
Capital Expenditures & Transfers: Saw an uplift of €43.2 million (16.7%), totaling €302.6 million.

Further savings were achieved through a €21.9 million (9.4%) reduction in other current expenditures, which fell to €211.1 million.

Conclusion: A Promising Fiscal Outlook

The marked shift from a substantial deficit to a surplus, alongside notable revenue growth and managed expenditure increases, signals robust fiscal recovery and prudent fiscal management. This evolution not only improves confidence in public finances but also sets a promising tone for future financial planning and economic stability.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.