By the end of March 2023, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €135.5 million, the NSO reported Friday.
Between January and March 2023, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €1,433.7 million, €285.3 million higher than the value reported a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded under Income Tax (€155.0 million), followed by Grants (€88.9 million), Value Added Tax (€31.7 million), Social Security (€11.3 million), Sales-Others (€8.7 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€5.1 million), Dividends on Investment (€1.7 million), Interest on loans made by Government (€0.3 million), Reimbursements (€0.2 million) and Sales-Services (€0.2 million). On the other hand, lower revenue was reported under Miscellaneous Receipts (€15.9 million), Rents (€1.1 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€0.5 million), Sales-Goods (€0.1 million), and Fees of Office (€0.1 million).
Total expenditure during the first quarter of 2023 stood at €1,569.2 million, €49.2 million higher than the previous year.
During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €1,403.1 million, an increase of €44.6 million in comparison to the value of €1,358.6 million reported at the end of March 2022. The main contributor to this increase was an increase of €34.2 million reported under Contributions to Government Entities. Higher contributions were, among others, made towards Mental Health Services (€6.5 million), Malta Tourism Authority (€5.1 million), Malta Financial Services Authority (€4.4 million) and Environment and Resources Authority (€3.7 million).
Furthermore, increases were also recorded under Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€22.6 million) and Personal Emoluments (€15.0 million). This rise in expenditure outweighed a decrease under Programmes and Initiatives (€27.3 million). The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved lower outlays towards Pandemic assistance schemes (€59.0 million) and Economic stimulus payment (€48.2 million). Conversely, higher outlay was recorded under Energy support measures (€39.0 million), Social security benefits (€23.3 million), Street lighting and other services (€10.0 million) and EU own resources (€8.9 million).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €45.4 million, an increase of €8.6 million when compared to the previous year.
By the end of March 2023, Government’s capital spending amounted to €120.7 million, €4.0 million lower than the figure registered in 2022. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards Road construction and improvements (€10.2 million) and Investment incentives (€4.8 million). The drop in capital outlay was partially offset by increases witnessed under Property, plant and equipment (€4.9 million), Digitalisation of health systems (€3.8 million) and National Identity Management Systems (€2.3 million).
The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €135.5 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of March 2023. Compared to the same period in 2022, there was a decrease in deficit of €236.1 million. This difference mirrors an increase in total Recurrent Revenue (€285.3 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of increases in Recurrent Expenditure (€44.6 million) and Interest (€8.6 million), and a drop in Capital Expenditure (€4.0 million).
At the end of March 2023, Central Government debt stood at €9,166.4 million, an increase of €700.2 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 (€46.6 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€5.0 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 €32.7 million.