In the period January-July 2014, the deficit of the Government’s Consolidated Fund amounted to €309.5 million, the NSO said today.
During the ?rst seven months recurrent revenue registered an increase of €87.3 million, offset by higher expenditure of €137.8 million when compared to the corresponding period last year, thereby widening the shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure by €50.5 million.
Recurrent revenue was recorded at €1,631.1 million, up by 5.7 per cent over last year. The main contributors to this increase were Social Security Contributions (€33.7 million), Income Tax (€30.2 million) and Value Added Tax (€27.0 million). Conversely, Customs and Excise Duties registered a decline of €22.4 million.
Recurrent expenditure increased by €108.7 million, mainly as a result of higher spending on Programmes and Initiatives (€51.8 million). The major increases registered in the Programmes and Initiatives category were recorded in the social security state contribution, which also feature as revenue (€10.1 million), public service obligations (€9.9 million), medicines and surgical materials (€7.7 million), EU own resources (€3.8 million), the contribution to church schools (€3.6 million) and the ex-gratia grant scheme for motor vehicles (€3.2 million), among others. In addition, Personal Emoluments and Contributions to Government Entities increased by €28.1 million and €25.0 million respectively. Operational and Maintenance Expenditure went up by €3.9 million.
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs for the period under review amounted to €131.9 million, an increase of €1.3 million from last year.
Expenditure on Government’s capital projects amounted to €226.2 million. The increase of €27.8 million was mainly brought about by higher outlays on EU funded capital projects which were partially outweighed by a lower equity injection to the national air carrier.
At the end of July, Central Government debt stood at €5,267.4 million, up by €283.5 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher Long-term and Short- term Borrowing, which added €140.9 million and €126.9 million respectively. On the other hand, foreign borrowing went down by €10.6 million. As a result of consolidation, lower holdings by government funds in MGSs brought about an increase in debt of €21.1 million. The euro coins issued in the name of the Maltese Treasury went up by €5.2 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of July 2013, and totalled €58.4 million.