Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena : Italy state sector budget surplus shrinks in December

ROME (Reuters) - Italy posted a state sector budget surplus of 5.1 billion euros (4 billion pounds) in December, sharply lower than the 15.58 billion euros posted in Dec. 2013, weighed down by lower tax revenues, higher payments of bills in arrears and debt servicing costs.

The Economy Ministry said the state sector budget deficit for the full year came to 76.8 billion euros, an improvement of more than 3.5 billion compared with the figure in 2013, tied to tighter spending.

The Treasury said debt servicing costs were higher but it noted that in 2013 there were exceptional payments for a capital increase for the European Investment Bank and for funding support to the troubled Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

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.

At the end of September, Italy hiked its general government deficit forecast for 2014 from 2.6 percent of gross domestic product to 3.0 percent, exactly in line with the European Union's ceiling, citing a weaker than expected economy.

Italy's general deficit in 2013 came in at 2.8 percent of GDP.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Agnieszka Flak)