Deficit up €80m in first five months

The shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure increased by €80.7 million in the first five months of the year over the same period of 2007 and amounted to €235.8 million, the National Statistics Office said.

An increase of €118.6 million in total expenditure was only partly offset by an increase of €37.9 million in recurrent revenue.

The Consolidated Fund re-corded increases in revenue of €19.8 million and of €12.7 million from taxes on income and from VAT respectively. Dividends on investment also added €7.9 million during the period under review. At the same time, revenue from licences, taxes and fines declined by €7.7 million while revenue classified under miscellaneous receipts declined by €7.2 million.

On the other hand, recurrent expenditure amounted to €857.8 million, an increase of €92.3 million. Major increases in recurrent expenditure were recorded under social security benefits which added €23.2 million. The Ministry of Health, the Elderly and Community Care and the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment added €13.4 million and €10.3 million respectively.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs amounted to €85.5 million, a comparative increase of €4.7 million over 2007.

The capital programme for the first five months added €21.6 million and amounted to €108.1 million. Capital expenditure under the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology, and under the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment increased by €14.6 million and €9.6 million respectively. On the other hand, capital expenditure under the Ministry of Finance declined by €17.1 million.

No new loans were taken up during the period under review.

The government debt outstanding at the end of May amounted to €3,317.6 million, an increase of €67.4 million compared to the gross central government debt outstanding at the end of May last year.

While long-term borrowing increased by €98.9 million, short-term borrowing and foreign borrowing declined by €50.6 million and €6.4 million respectively.

At the end of May, the euro coins issued in the name of the Maltese Treasury which are considered as a currency liability pertaining to the central government, amou-nted to €25.3 million.