The National Statistics Office yesterday issued a correction to News Release 95/2004 issued on 20 May 2004 entitled Economic Indicators.

The NSO said that the table carried on page 17 of the electronic document on the NSO website to which the release refers – entitled Government finance data: annual and quarterly changes – indicates that Net Expenditure for 1996 amounted to Lm656.860 million and the Fiscal Deficit for the same year amounted to Lm188.589 million.

These two elements of data are inconsistent with the other data carried in the same table for that year and are therefore incorrect, said the NSO.

The data for Net Expenditure and the Fiscal Deficit for 1996 should have read Lm570.661 million and Lm102.390 million respectively. This is corroborated by information carried in News Release 46/2002 – entitled Structural Indicators – issued on 2 May 2002 in Table 11 carried on page 10, as well as in previous editions of the same.

Other adjustments to News Release 95/2004 related to the above corrections are being made, the NSO said. A revised version of the News Release is available on the NSO website at www.nso.gov.mt/docs/2003_Q4.pdf