Drop in government shortfall

The shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure in the first quarter of this year amounted to Lm55.6 million, a drop of Lm4.9 million, or 8.1 per cent, from a shortfall of Lm60.6 million in the first quarter of last year, the National Statistics Office said.

An increase of Lm9.2 million in recurrent revenue was in part offset by an increase of Lm4.3 million in total expenditure.

In the first quarter of the year, revenue from income tax rose by Lm7.3 million and revenue from VAT rose by Lm2.4 million.

Recurrent expenditure amounted to Lm193.1 million, an increase of Lm11.8 million compared to January-March 2006.

In the first quarter of this year, capital expenditure amounted to Lm21 million, registering a decline of Lm6.9 million when compared to the expenditure of Lm27.9 million a year earlier.

No new loans were taken up during the first quarter of the year.

Government debt outstanding at the end of March amounted to Lm1,375.7 million, a rise of Lm41.6 million compared to the debt position at the end of March 2006.

The shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure for the whole of last year amounted to Lm57.9 million, an improvement of Lm17.5 million from a deficit of Lm75.3 million for 2005, the NSO said.