By the end of May 2024, the Government's Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €7.1 million, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has said.
Between January and May 2024, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €2,901.5 million, €446.8 million higher than the figure reported a year earlier.
"The largest increases were recorded under Income Tax (€273.8 million), Value Added Tax (€107.2 million) and Social Security (€73.2 million). On the other hand, the main drops in revenue were reported under Customs and Excise Duties (€21.3 million), Grants (€13.1 million) and Miscellaneous Receipts (€12.6 million)."
Total expenditure till May 2024 stood at €2,908.6 million, €350.4 million higher than the previous year, the NSO said.
"During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €2,564.0 million, an increase of €311.2 million compared to the €2,252.8 million reported a year earlier. The main contributor to this increase was a €218.4 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Further increases were also recorded under Personal Emoluments (€42.9 million), Contributions to Government Entities (€40.3 million) and Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€9.5 million). The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved higher outlays towards Social security benefits (€98.1 million), the EU own resources (€44.2 million) and Tax relief measure (€28.1 million)."
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €103.0 million, an increase of €20.1 million when compared to the previous year.
From January to May 2024, Government's capital spending amounted to €241.7 million, a rise of €19.1 million over the comparative period in 2023, the NSO said. "This increase resulted from higher expenditure towards Road construction and improvements (€14.0 million), Enhancing uptake of electric vehicles (€13.3 million) and Property, plant and equipment (€6.6 million). The increase was partially offset by decreases reported under Investment incentives (€11.1 million) and Film industry incentives (€6.2 million)."
The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €7.1 million being reported in the Government's Consolidated Fund at the end of May 2024, whereas a year earlier a deficit of €103.5 million was registered, the NSO said. "This difference mirrors an increase in total Recurrent Revenue (€446.8 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of Recurrent Expenditure (€311.2 million), Interest (€20.1 million) and Capital Expenditure (€19.1 million)."
"At the end of May 2024, Central Government debt stood at €10,017.9 million, an increase of €934.2 million when compared to 2023. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€1,217.8 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under Foreign Loans (€71.9 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€4.1 million). This increase in debt was partially offset by drops in Treasury Bills (€267.8 million) and the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€43.6 million). Moreover, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €48.2 million."