Government consolidated fund registers deficit between January and November

The government’s consolidated fund registered a €35.2 million deficit between January and November this year, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The data shows that up until the end of November, recurrent revenue increased by €218.5 million, representing a 5.9% increase over the same period last year.

The increase was primarily the result of increased income tax revenues. Increases were also registered in income from Value Added Tax (10.8%), social security contributions (10%), Licences, Taxes and Fines (15.86%) and Customs and Excise duties (1.7%).

On the other hand, total expenditure increased by 9.3% when compared to the same period last year, rising from to €3.961 billion. Increased recurrent and capital expenditure were the main “catalysts” for the rise in total expenditure, the NSO said.

The main contributor to this increase was a €80.4 million increase reported under Programmes and Initiatives. The increase represented a 4.1% increase over the the same period last year.  

Furthermore, rises in outlay were also registered by Contributions to Government Entities (16%), Personal Emoluments (7%) and Operational and Maintenance Expenses (16.6%).

The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €35.2 million compared to a surplus of €84.6 million in the same period in 2017.

By the end of November 2018, Central Government Debt stood at €5.2 billion, a €200 million drop over the previous year.

75% of people at working age in employment

Also published by the NSO on Friday were statistics on Malta’s labour force, which show that 73 out of every 100 people aged between 15 and 64 years were in employment. This figure represents a 6.8% increase over the same period last year.

The statistics indicate that, during the third quarter of 2018, total employment stood at 239,544 – equivalent to more than half the population aged 15 and over.

Unemployed persons stood at 9,065 or 2.2%, while inactive persons totaled 161,742 (34.9%).

The largest share of employed persons was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 34.