Greece’s Finance Ministry says the country’s budget deficit has been reduced by 46 percent in the first half of 2010. Debt fell to 9.6 billion euro from 17.9 billion in the same period of 2009, beating the 39.5 percent target.

The finance ministry says the result is thanks to restrictions on expenditure and revenue increases. Due to the debt crisis, Greece is aiming to reduce its budget deficit from the current 13.6 percent of GDP to 8.1 percent by 2011. To this end, the government has implemented harsh austerity measures and structural reforms.