In January-April 2017, Government’s Consolidated Fund registered a surplus of €21.2 million, the NSo said today.
Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €158.3 million whereas total expenditure went up by €59.6 million. This resulted in a positive change in the Government’s Consolidated Fund by €98.7 million.
In January-April 2017, recurrent revenue was recorded at €1,221.3 million, up from €1,063.0 million last year. The comparative increase of 14.9 per cent was primarily the result of higher Grants and Income Tax which increased by €59.8 million and €22.0 million respectively. Moreover, increases were also recorded for Value Added Tax (€20.4 million), Fees of Office (€18.8 million), Social Security (€15.6 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€9.2 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€9.0 million) and Rents (€6.0 million) among others. Conversely, decreases were recorded in Miscellaneous Receipts (€3.8 million) and Dividends on Investment (€0.5 million).
Compared to January-April last year, total expenditure stood at €1,200.0 million up from €1,140.5 million due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure which outweighed lower spending on interest payments.
Recurrent expenditure stood at €1,048.3 million from €996.2 million last year. The main contributors to this increase were Programmes and Initiatives and Contributions to Government Entities with a rise of €33.7 million and €15.8 million respectively. The main developments in the Programmes and
Initiatives category involved added outlays due to Health Concession Agreements (€13.7 million), EU Presidency 2017 (€8.3 million), higher EU Own Resources (€7.6 million), state contribution (€5.4 million which also features as revenue), social security benefits (€4.7 million) and public service obligations (€2.3 million). On the other hand, lower outlays for Medicines and Surgical Materials were recorded (€11.2 million). Decreases were registered in Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€4.2 million).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €74.1 million, down from €77.0 million last year.
Government’s capital expenditure witnessed an increase of €10.3 million, and was recorded at €77.6 million. This was mainly the result of ICT Core Services Agreement (€3.9 million), higher spending on road construction improvements (€3.8 million) and investment incentives subvention (€3.1 million)
At the end of April 2017, Central Government Debt stood at €5,613.6 million, up by €22.2 million over the corresponding month last year. This was the result of higher Malta Government Stocks and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury, which added €153.9 million and €4.4 million respectively.
On the other hand, Treasury Bills and Foreign Loans went down by €110.7 million and €10.4 million respectively. Higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €15.0 million.