By the end of October 2020, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €1,242.2 million, the NSO said.

Between January and October 2020, recurrent revenue amounted to €3,318.3 million, 15.8 per cent lower than the €3,940.1 million reported in revenue up to the end of October 2019. The largest decrease was reported under Income tax (€221.7 million). Additional drops were also witnessed under Value Added Tax (€156.9 million), Grants (€88.1 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€70.2 million), Social Security (€68.5 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€61.5 million), Reimbursements (€9.4 million), Rents (€6.5 million) and Interest on Loans made by Government (€0.1 million). Increases recorded under Miscellaneous Receipts (€42.6 million), Fees of Office (€18.2 million) and Dividends on Investment (€0.2 million) marginally off set the drop in revenue.

By the end of October 2020, total expenditure amounted to €4,560.5 million, 16.0 per cent higher than the corresponding period in 2019. During the period under review, recurrent expenditure totalled €3,694.4 million, a rise of €332.6 million in comparison to the €3,361.8 million reported in 2019. The main contributor to this increase was a €186.5 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, increases in outlay were also registered by Contributions to Government Entities (€92.5 million), Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€36.3 million) and Personal Emoluments (€17.4 million).

The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays towards Social security benefits (€67.1 million, of which €14.5 million were spent on COVID-19 social benefits), Medicines and surgical materials (€49.5 million), the Economic regeneration voucher scheme (€45.3 million), Church schools (€22.0 million), Feed-in-tariff (€9.2 million), Housing programmes (€8.8 million), Public service obligation for public transport (€7.4 million), Extension of the school transport network (€6.3 million), Waiting lists for medical services (€6.2 million) and Additional street sweeping services (€5.0 million). The rise in expenditure was partially offset by drops reported under Social security state contribution (€32.1 million, also reported as revenue) and EU own resources (€6.2 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €151.4 million, a €12.3 million decrease from the same period in 2019. By the end of October 2020, Government’s capital spending amounted to €714.7 million, €310.2 million higher than 2019, largely due to additional spending towards Investment incentives (€283.2 million). These incentives amounted to €307.3 million, of which €262.0 million was spent in relation to the COVID-19 Business Assistance programme. Moreover, Property, plant and equipment spending rose by €32.4 million, while a €15.7 million increase was reported under Road construction/improvements.

In contrast, spending towards projects financed by EU Structural funds 2014-2020 fell by €21.6 million. The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €1,242.2 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of October 2020. This represented an increase in deficit of €1,252.4 million when compared to the surplus of €10.2 million witnessed during the same period in 2019.

This difference mirrors an increase in total expenditure, consisting of recurrent expenditure (€332.6 million), interest (-€12.3 million) and capital expenditure (€310.2 million), in addition to a drop in recurrent revenue (€621.9 million). Decreases in revenue and increases in expenditure reflect developments related to COVID-19. At the end of October 2020, Central Government debt stood at €6,504.1 million, a €1,242.9 million rise from 2019. Increases reported under Malta Government Stocks (€743.5 million) and Treasury Bills (€396.2 million) were the main reasons for the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€91.2 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€2.1 million). In contrast, lower debt was registered under Foreign Loans (€0.1 million). Finally, lower holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in an increase in debt of €10.0 million.