ROME (Reuters) - Italy posted a state sector budget surplus of 1.3 billion euros ($1.51 billion) in August, compared to a 1.1 billon euro deficit in the same month last year, the Treasury said on Monday.
The first eight months of the year saw a deficit of 29.5 billion euros, some 11.7 billion lower than the same period last year.
The state sector borrowing requirement (SSBR), a measure of the gap between central government spending and income, differs from the broader "general government" accounts, which the European Union Stability and Growth Pact refers to when assessing countries' deficit performances.
The Treasury said the deficit of August 2017 was affected by a payment of some 3.9 billion euros to help troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS).
