By the end of February 2023, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a surplus of €114.2 million, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.
Between January and February 2023, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €1,028.8 million, €231.3 million higher than the €797.5 million reported a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded under Income Tax (€155.4 million), followed by Value Added Tax (€31.7 million), Grants (€30.1 million), Miscellaneous Receipts (€6.8 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€3.7 million), Social Security (€3.0 million), Sales-Services (€2.3 million), Rents (€0.4 million), Sales-Others (€0.3 million) and Reimbursements (€0.2 million). On the other hand, lower revenue was reported under Fees of Office (€1.8 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€0.7 million) and Sales-Goods (€0.1 million).
By the end of February 2023, total expenditure stood at €914.6 million, €36.4 million higher than the previous year.
During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €838.5 million, an increase of €36.1 million in comparison to the €802.4 million reported at the end of February 2022. The main contributor to this increase was a €17.3 million rise reported under Operational and Maintenance Expenses. Furthermore, increases were also recorded under Programmes and Initiatives (€9.5 million) and Personal Emoluments (€9.5 million). This rise in expenditure outweighed a decrease under Contributions to Government Entities (€0.2 million).
The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays towards Social security benefits (€13.2 million), Medicines and surgical materials (€8.2 million), Residential care in private homes (€7.9 million), Street lighting and other services (€4.7 million), Extension of school transport network (€3.7 million), Chief medical officer medicines (€3.7 million), Provision of spare capacity - electricity (€3.5 million) and Tal-Linja card (€3.3 million). This rise in Programmes and Initiatives was partly offset by a decrease under the Pandemic assistance schemes (€39.0 million).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €25.8 million, an increase of €2.7 million when compared to the previous year.
By the end of February 2023, Government’s capital spending amounted to €50.3 million, €2.3 million lower than 2022. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards Road construction and improvements (€9.0 million). The drop in capital outlay was partially offset by increases witnessed under Film industry incentives (€1.5 million), Greening of public and private buildings (€1.5 million), Information technology in government schools (€1.4 million) and National Identity Management Systems (€1.4 million).
The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a surplus of €114.2 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of February 2023, a €194.9 million increase from the €80.6 million deficit witnessed in the corresponding period of 2022. This difference mirrors an increase in total Recurrent Revenue (€231.3 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of Recurrent Expenditure (€36.1 million), Interest (€2.7 million) and Capital Expenditure (-€2.3 million).
At the end of February 2023, Central Government debt stood at €9,280.3 million, an increase of €886.4 million when compared to 2022. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€781.2 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under Treasury Bills (€237.5 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€5.3 million). This increase in debt was partially offset by a decrease in the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€99.9 million) and Foreign Loans (€0.1 million). Finally, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €37.5 million.