Deficit in 2014 at €168.3 million

Government deficit went down by €26.1 million in 2014 from €194.4 million recorded in 2013, equivalent to 2.1 per cent of GDP, down from 2.6 per cent for 2013. Government debt amounted to €5,417.4 million, an increase of €176.2 million from 2013 and stood at 68.0 per cent of GDP

Adjustments were made to the balance of the consolidated fund, which amounted to a deficit of €121.3 million. The major positive adjustments included the treasury clearance fund (€35.9 million) and time-adjusted cash transactions (€13.5 million).

On the other hand, the main negative adjustments were other accounts receivable and payable (€67.1 million), the equity injection to the national air carrier (€15.0 million), debt assumption (€5.8 million), the adjustment for stock premium proceeds (€4.8 million) and the difference between interest paid and interest accrued (€3.7 million).

The deficit for 2013 was revised upwards by €7.6 million: of this amount, €7.3 million was related to updated data sources, mainly in other accounts receivable and payable and the availability of audited financial statements for both EBUs and Local Councils. Other changes had a positive impact of €0.3 million. A downward revision of €4.2 million was reported in 2011 due to updated data sources.

As regards General Government debt, data for 2013 were revised upwards by €0.3 million while 2011 and 2012 remained unchanged.

In 2014, a positive stock flow adjustment of 0.1 per cent of GDP meant that the debt increased more than implied by the deficit. This rise in debt was the result of lower utilisation of liquidity and higher holdings of currency and deposits.

In 2014, the government deficit of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 decreased in absolute terms compared with 2013, while the government debt rose in both zones. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 2.9% in 2013 to 2.4% in 2014, and in the EU28 from 3.2% to 2.9%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio increased from 90.9% at the end of 2013 to 91.9% at the end of 2014, and in the EU28 from 85.5% to 86.8%.

In 2014, Denmark (+1.2%), Germany (+0.7%), Estonia and Luxembourg (+0.6% each) registered a government surplus, and the lowest government deficits in percentage of GDP were recorded in Lithuania (-0.7%), Latvia (-1.4%) and Romania (-1.5%). Twelve Member States had deficits higher than 3% of GDP: Cyprus (-8.8%), Spain (-5.8%), Croatia and the United Kingdom (both -5.7%), Slovenia (-4.9%), Portugal (-4.5%), Ireland (-4.1%), France (-4.0%), Greece (-3.5%), Belgium, Poland and Finland (all -3.2%).

At the end of 2014, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (10.6%), Luxembourg (23.6%), Bulgaria (27.6%), Romania (39.8%) and Latvia (40.0%). Sixteen Member States had government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (177.1%), Italy (132.1%), Portugal (130.2 %), Ireland (109.7%), Cyprus (107.5%) and Belgium (106.5%).

In 2014, government expenditure in the euro area was equivalent to 49.0% of GDP and government revenue to 46.6%. The figures for the EU28 were 48.1% and 45.2% respectively. In both zones, the government expenditure ratio decreased between 2013 and 2014, while the government revenue ratio remained stable for the euro area and slightly decreased for the EU28.