Business • November 30 2003

End October government debt up 17 per cent

Provisional statistics supplied by the Central Bank of Malta indicate that Government Debt outstanding at the end of October stood at Lm1,210.9 million - up by Lm175.6 million, or 17 per cent, from Lm1,035.3 million outstanding at the end of October last year.
Treasury Bills and Malta Government stock accounted for Lm254million or 21 per cent, and Lm883million or 73 per cent respectively. The remaining share of Lm73.9 million or 6.1 per cent was made up of foreign borrowing. At the end of October, Government debt was Lm134million higher when compared with the end of last year. Compared to one month earlier, Government debt increased by Lm1.9 million.
The amount of Lm340.4 million represents outstanding balances on Government Guaranteed debt. They exclude Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) positions, as well as Government guarantees on foreign loans taken by the Central Bank on behalf of the Malta Government as these loans already feature in the calculation of Government foreign debt.
The aggregate figure of Lm340.4 million is arrived at by adding the amount withdrawn (being an overdraft or loan), with the interest charged during the period under review. If the figure exceeds the limit, the latter is then reported as being the total balance guaranteed by Government. The data sources of the guaranteed debt are the Treasury, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the Central Bank of Malta.
Recurrent government revenue during the first ten months totalled Lm560.9 million, and made up 72.8 per cent of this year’s budget forecast. Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue decreased by Lm1.9 million, or 0.3 per cent, the National Statistics Office reported Friday.
At the same time, total expenditure amounted Lm707.1 million, an increase of Lm45.8 million, or 6.9 per cent, over the Lm661.2 million expended in the same period in 2002. Government increased the relative level of expenditure when comparing the 2002 figure with that year’s final outturn (80.7 per cent), and the 2003 amount with this year’s budget estimate (82.4 per cent). The shortfall during the period under review amounted to Lm139.9 million, an increase of Lm48.1 million from a shortfall of Lm91.9 million for the same period last year.
Last year, one-off revenues were received from the part-privatisation of the Malta International Airport (Lm21million) and from fees collected through the Investment Registration Scheme (Lm5.9 million). Although these revenues were not repeated in 2003, the following increases for the first ten months of the year were registered: Social Security (+Lm6.3 million), Miscellaneous Receipts (+Lm3.4 million), Consumption Tax (+Lm2.4 million), Customs and Excise Duties (+Lm2.2 million), Rents (+Lm1.5 million) and Grants (+Lm0.9 million). Meanwhile, revenue reductions were recorded from Income Tax (-Lm0.1 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (-Lm0.2 million), Central Bank of Malta (-Lm0.9 million) and Reimbursements (-Lm1.2 million).
When compared to the same period in 2002, recurrent expenditure, excluding Public Debt Servicing, amounted to Lm556.9 million, from Lm524million expended last year: an increase of Lm32.9 million, or 6.3 per cent. Recurrent expenditure for the period under review made up 82.2 per cent of this year’s budgetary estimates, up from 81.1 per cent of the actual final outturn for last year.