Government registers deficit of €55 million in January

Government registers deficit of €55 million in January – NSO

Friday, 22 February 2019, 11:17 Last update: about 6 years ago

By the end of January 2019, Government’s Consolidated Fund registered a deﬁcit of €55.0 million, the NSO said today.

During the ﬁrst month of 2019, recurrent revenue rose by €19.4 million and amounted to €302.4 million. This represented a 6.8 per cent increase from the €283.0 million reported in revenue during the same month in 2018.

The increase was primarily the result of a €13.7 million rise in Social Security. Further increases were also registered under Income Tax (€8.7 million), Value Added Tax (€8.5 million), Reimbursements (€2.3 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€2.2 million), Rents (€2.0 million), Miscellaneous Receipts (€1.8 million) and Dividends (€0.2 million).

Conversely, decreases were mainly recorded in Customs and Excise Duties (€10.0 million), followed by Grants (€7.5 million), Central Bank of Malta (€2.0 million) and Fees of Oﬃ ce (€0.5 million). Total expenditure in January 2019 stood at €357.4 million, showcasing a 20.7 per cent increase from the corresponding month in 2018. Recurrent expenditure stood at €319.2 million, €50.7 million higher than the corresponding amount reported in January 2018.

The main contributor to this increase was a €37.1 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, rises in outlay were also registered by Contributions to Government Entities (€7.9 million), Personal Emoluments (€3.4 million) and Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€2.2 million).

The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays due to EU own resources (€13.7 million), state contribution (€4.5 million that also features as revenue), health concession agreements (€4.2 million), provision of spare capacity - electricity (€3.5 million), medicines and surgical materials, and extension of the school transport network (both €2.9 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs amounted to €12.9 million, a €5.4 million drop from the €18.3 million reported in 2018. Government’s capital expenditure registered an increase of €15.9 million from the same period last year and amounted to €25.3 million. The rise in outlay was due to added expenditure reported on investment incentives (€5.0 million), road construction and improvements (€4.6 million), tomorrow schools (€3.6 million), EU structural funds 2014-2020 (€2.3 million) and cattle sheds (€1.8 million). Conversely, drops in capital expenditure were registered under improvements to buildings and equipment (€1.1 million) and ICT (€1.0 million).

The diﬀerence between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deﬁcit of €55.0 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund by the end of January 2019, compared to a deﬁcit of €13.1 million in the same period in 2018. The main catalysts in the diﬀerence were increased outlays in both recurrent and capital expenditure.

During January 2019, Central Government Debt stood at €5,414.7 million, a €28.4 million rise from the corresponding month last year. This was primarily the result of higher Treasury Bills (€195.0 million) and the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€92.9 million). Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury also rose by €6.1 million. On the other hand, Malta Government Stocks and Foreign Loans decreased by €240.7 million and €7.9 million respectively. Higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks also resulted in a decrease in debt of €17.0 million.