By the end of May 2022, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €373.2 million, the NSO said today.
In the first five months of 2022, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €2,129.4 million, 16.2 per cent higher than the €1,831.7 million reported a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded under Income Tax (€113.5 million), followed by Value Added Tax (€74.8 million), Grants (€58.8 million), Social Security (€39.2 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€8.3 million), Central Bank of Malta (€7.2 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€6.3 million), Dividends on Investment (€3.1 million), Reimbursements (€2.9 million) and Rents (€1.3 million).
The rise in revenue was partially offset by decreases under Fees of Office (€13.4 million) and Miscellaneous Receipts (€4.4 million). By the end of May 2022, total expenditure stood at €2,502.6 million, 0.7 per cent higher than the previous year. During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €2,213.5 million, an increase of €28.3 million in comparison to the €2,185.2 million reported by the end of May 2021.
The main contributor to this increase was a €53.8 million increase reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, an increase was also witnessed under Personal Emoluments (€1.4 million). This rise in expenditure outweighed decreases under Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€15.8 million) and Contributions to Government Entities (€11.2 million).
The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays towards Economic stimulus payments (€48.2 million), Social security benefits (€28.0 million), Tax relief measures (€25.8 million), Gas stabilisation fund (€7.1 million) and Extension of school transport network (€6.1 million). This rise in Programmes and Initiatives was partly offset by a decrease under the Pandemic assistance schemes (€60.4 million).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €70.1 million, a decrease of €4.1 million when compared to the previous year. By the end of May 2022, Government’s capital spending amounted to €219.0 million, €6.7 million lower than 2021. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards Property, plant, and equipment (€12.4 million), Acquisitions of property for public purposes (€4.9 million) and Gozo Aquatic Centre (€4.3 million).
This decline in Capital Expenditure was partially offset by increases under Ta’ Qali National Park (€6.3 million), Film industry incentives (€6.2 million) and ICT support (€3.5 million). The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €373.2 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of May 2022. Compared to the same period in 2021, there was a decrease in deficit of €280.1 million.
This difference mirrors an increase in total Recurrent Revenue (€297.6 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of Recurrent Expenditure (€28.3 million), Interest (-€4.1 million) and Capital Expenditure (-€6.7 million) (Table 1). At the end of May 2022, Central Government debt stood at €8,409.9 million, a €579.7 million rise from 2021. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€490.1 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€94.0 million), Treasury Bills (€39.8 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€4.2 million).
This increase in debt was partially offset by a decrease in Foreign Loans (€0.1 million). Finally, lower holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €48.2 million.