Government shortfall up in first five months

The shortfall between the government's recurrent revenue and total expenditure for the first five months of the year stood at Lm66.6 million.

The National Statistics Office said that the amount is Lm3.1 million higher than the shortfall of Lm63.4 million recorded for the same period in 2006 and was brought about by an increase of Lm14.4 million to the total expenditure, which was in part offset by a corresponding increase in recurrent revenue.

During the first five months of the year revenue from income tax increased by Lm12.3 million.

At the same time, revenue from social security contributions added Lm6.4 million, while that from value added tax increased by Lm1.7 million.

Recurrent expenditure amounted to Lm328.7 million, an increase of Lm15.2 million compared to the first five months of 2006.

New loans taken up by the government for the first five months of the year amounted to Lm16.3 million.

The central government debt outstanding at the end of May amounted to Lm1,395.3 million, a decline of Lm9 million compared to the debt position at the end of May 2006.