Deficit down by €74.3 million

The National Statistics Office (NSO) today reported an increase of €146.4 million in government's recurrent revenue which outweighed the added expenditure of €72.1 million.

This resulted in a reduction of €74.3 million in the government deficit in the first seven months of the year.

In the first seven months, the shortfall between government's recurrent revenue and total expenditure amounted to €259.0 million, down from €333.3 million in the corresponding period last year.

During January-July 2013, recurrent revenue stood at €1,543.8 million, up by 10.5% over last year. The main contributors to this increase were Grants (+€81.1 million), Income Tax (+€74.7 million) and Social Security (+€21.0 million).

Conversely, lower proceeds were mainly recorded from Miscellaneous Receipts (-€39.4 million) and the Central Bank of Malta (-€6.0 million).

Total expenditure was recorded at €1,802.8 million, up by 4.2% when compared to the corresponding period in 2012. This was primarily due to added outlays on recurrent and capital expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure increased by €55.5 million, mainly as a result of higher spending on programmes and initiatives and personal emoluments, by €30.0 million and €21.5 million respectively.

The Programmes and Initiatives category advanced by 3.3%, primarily on account of a rise in social security benefits (€19.2 million) and EU own resources (€7.2 million).

In addition, the feed-in tariff and the social security state contribution, which also feature as revenue, went up by €4.4 million, whereas expenditure on street lighting contracted by €5.8 million.

Moreover, contributions to government entities added €6.4 million, while operational and maintenance expenditure declined by €2.4 million.

Expenditure on Government's capital projects amounted to €198.3 million. The increase of €16.3 million over the corresponding period last year includes an equity injection of €40.0 million to the national air carrier, up from €20.0 million in 2012.

The contribution towards the Treasury Clearance Fund went up by €8.0 million. On the other hand, a decline of €6.0 million in the ICT core services agreement and lower investment incentives by €5.7 million were also recorded.

During the period under review, the interest component of the public debt servicing costs registered a marginal increase of €0.3 million and was recorded at €130.6 million.

At the end of July, Central Government debt stood at €4,984.0 million, up by €167.2 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher long-term and short-term borrowing, which added €173.2 million and €3.4 million respectively.

On the other hand, foreign borrowing went down by €12.0 million. As a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in MGSs brought about a decline in debt of €2.5 million.

The euro coins issued in the name of the Maltese Treasury went up by €5.0 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of July 2012, and totalled €53.2 million.