In the first six months of 2015, Government’s Consolidated Fund registered a deficit of €158.0 million, the National Statistics Office said today.
During January-June, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €193.1 million which outweighed the rise in expenditure of €85.8 million, hence resulting in a positive change in the Government’s Consolidated Fund of €107.2 million.
In the second quarter this year, recurrent revenue was recorded at €1,607.4 million, up from €1,414.3 million last year. The major contributors to the comparative increase of 13.6 per cent were higher proceeds from Grants (€56.1 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€43.1 million) and Income Tax (€38.9 million). On the other hand, Fees of Office registered a decrease of €5.7 million.
Compared to the first six months last year, total expenditure recorded an increase of €85.8 million due to higher recurrent and capital expenditures and interest payments.
Recurrent expenditure went up by €66.4 million, totalling €1,443.2 million. Programmes and Initiatives recorded the highest increase at €28.7 million. The major developments in this category involved added expenditure on the one-time additional bonus (€7.1 million), EU Own Resources (€5.1 million), social security state contribution which also features as revenue (€4.4 million), and child care for all (€4.1 million).
Conversely, lower outlays on social security benefits by €4.4 million were registered. Other increases in recurrent expenditure were recorded in Personal Emoluments by €19.6 million, followed by Contributions to Government Entities and Operational and Maintenance Expenses, with a rise of €9.8 and €8.2 million respectively.
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs for the first half of 2015 stood at €116.2 million up by €4.9 million from last year.
Government’s Capital Expenditure was recorded at €206.0 million, up by €14.5 million from last year. This increase was mainly due to added outlays on the acquisition of property for public purposes (€7.4 million) and EU funded expenditure on agriculture (€4.1 million). Moreover, the national identity management systems and the enterprise investment incentives both advanced by €2.0 million. These increases were partially outweighed by a lower equity injection to the national air carrier.
At the end of June 2015, Central Government Debt stood at €5,384.8 million, a decline of €99.4 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of lower Treasury Bills and Foreign Loans by €176.6 million and €10.6 million respectively which outweighed the increase in Malta Government Stocks of €106.7 million. As a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a reduction in debt of €24.7 million. The Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury went up by €5.8 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of June 2014, and totalled €62.9 million.