Sharp drop in Malta’s financial surplus in third quarter

Monday, 13 January 2020, 12:27 Last update: about 5 years ago

In the third quarter of 2019, the General Government recorded a surplus of €57.4 million, the NSO said today. This is half the surplus that was reached in the same period last year.

Quarterly non-ﬁnancial accounts

During the period July to September 2019, total revenue stood at €1,215.7 million, a decrease of €3.6 million when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018. Decreases in revenue were registered in Current taxes on income and wealth (€29.0 million), Taxes on production and imports (€18.7 million) and Current transfers receivable (€2.1 million). This was partially outweighed by increases in Net social contributions receivable (€26.0 million), Market output (€11.4 million), Property income receivable (€4.9 million) and Capital transfers receivable (€3.8 million).

Total expenditure in the third quarter of 2019 amounted to €1,158.3 million, an increase of €51.8 million over the previous quarter in 2018. Increases were recorded in almost all components of general government expenditure, mainly in Intermediate consumption (€32.6 million) and Current transfers payable (€21.8 million). In addition, other increases were registered in Compensation of employees (€17.9 million), Subsidies payable (€12.5 million), Social beneﬁts and social transfers in kind (€4.2 million) and Current taxes on income and wealth (€0.1 million).

On the contrary, when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018, Capital transfers payable and Gross capital formation both registered a decrease of €21.8 million and €12.0 million respectively, while Property income payable decreased by €3.4 million. In order to achieve compliance with the provisions of ESA 2010, adjustments to the Consolidated Fund data were made. In the third quarter of 2019, these adjustments brought about a decrease of €136.6 million to the surplus of the Consolidated Fund.

In relation to ﬁnancial transactions in assets, during the third quarter, Other accounts receivable and Currency and deposits registered a decrease of €210.8 million and €185.9 million respectively. On the other hand, increases were recorded in Equity and investment fund shares (€11.3 million) and Long-term debt securities (€2.0 million).

Considering the ﬁnancial transactions in liabilities, the major decrease was recorded in Other accounts payable (€209.6 million), followed by Long-term debt securities (€173.3 million) and Short-term debt securities (€53.2 million). Conversely, Long-term loans and Currency and deposits increased by €8.5 million and €0.7 million respectively.

At the end of September, General Government debt stood at €5,614.9 million, showing an increase of €71.3 million over the corresponding quarter in 2018. Central Government debt increased by €71.2 million, amounting to €5,611.5 million. Currency and deposits stood at €378.7 million, an increase of €102.3 million over September 2018, underpinning the largest increase in Central Government debt. This includes the euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury considered a liability of Central Government and the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond, with the latter amounting to €290.6 million. Conversely, Short-term and Long-term debt securities decreased by €46.2 million and €2.0 million respectively. Long-term loans registered an increase of €24.2 million, while Short-term loans dropped by €7.1 million. Local Government debt stood at €3.4 million.

Government guaranteed debt amounted to €1,069.9 million at the end of September 2019, a decrease of €14.0 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2018.