Deficit narrows

The shortfall between the government’s recurrent revenue and total expenditure in January amounted to €90.1 million, down by €17 million.

The National Statistics Office said that according to Consolidated Fund data, recurrent revenue for January went down by €1.7 million, while total expenditure declined by €18.7 million.

Recurrent revenue was recorded at €135.6 million, down from €137.3 million last year.

The comparative decline of 1.2 per cent was mainly the result of lower returns from social security (-€7.3 million) and value added tax (-€4.1 million).

These declines were partly outweighed by increases in other revenue components.

Conversely, compared to January last year, lower recurrent expenditure and lower spending on capital projects resulted in a decline in total expenditure of €18.7 million, to €225.7 million.

Recurrent expenditure fell by €15.7 million, totalling €198.1 million. Both operational and maintenance expenditure and programmes and initiatives declined by €6.9 million.

The drop in programmes and initiatives mainly reflected a fall of €9.3 million in social security benefits, €2.7 million in energy support measures and €1.6 million in EU own resources.

These were partly offset by higher expenditure with regard to street lighting (+€4 million) and medicines and surgical materials (+€3.2 million).

Moreover, the contributions to government entities went down by €3.2 million whereas the outlays on personal emoluments added €1.3 million.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs for the period under review was registered at €17.9 million from €18.1 million last year.

In addition, the government’s capital expenditure was recorded at €9.7 million from €12.5 million last year. This was mainly caused by lower expenditure on the EU Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (-€2.1 million).

The central government debt outstanding at the end of January totalled €4,227.8 million, up by €350.7 million compared to January last year.

Long-term borrowing rose by €387.3 million, while short-term borrowing and foreign loans declined by €28.8 million and €13 million, respectively.

The euro coins issued in the name of the Maltese Treasury, which are considered as a currency liability pertaining to the central government, amounted to €40.6 million, €4 million more compared to the coin stock as at end January last year.