Government's Consolidated Fund registered a surplus of €84.6 million for the period between January-November 2017

Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €421.4 million whereas total expenditure went up by €276.5 million. This resulted in a positive change in the Government's Consolidated Fund by €144.8 million.

For the January-November 2017 period, recurrent revenue was recorded at €3,707.4 million, up from €3,286.0 million last year. The comparative increase of 12.8% was primarily the result of higher income tax and value added tax which both increased by €149.9 million and €91.4 million respectively, the NSO statistics showed.

"Moreover, increases were also recorded for social security (€65.8 million), fees of office (€47.5 million), customs and excise duties (€29.6 million), reimbursements (€19.2million), licences, taxes and fines (€11.7 million), dividends on investment (€7.8 million), grants (€4.1 million) and rents (€1.6 million).  Conversely, decreases were mainly recorded in miscellaneous receipts (€7.3 million).

"Compared to January-November last year, total expenditure stood at €3,622.8 million up from €3,346.2 million due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure which outweighed lower spending on interest payments. Recurrent expenditure stood at €3,156.4 million from €2,881.3 million last year. The main contributors to this increase were programmes and initiatives and personal emoluments with a rise of €204.7 million and €39.3 million respectively."

"At the end of November 2017, central government debt stood at €5,398.9 million, down by €122.8 million over the corresponding month last year. This was the result of lower Malta government stocks and treasury bills which decreased by €106.0 million and €78.6 million respectively. "