The Government’s deficit in the first nine months increased to €282.2 million from €188.4 million in the same period last year.

The National Statistics Office said that an increase in recurrent revenue of €99.3 million was offset by a rise in total expenditure of €193.1 million, widening the deficit by €93.8 million.

Between January-September 2012, recurrent revenue stood at €1,921.4 million, a rise of 5.4 per cent over last year.

Recurrent expenditure rose by €124.6 million. Government’s capital expenditure for the period under review amounted to €243.4 million.

When compared to the corresponding period in 2011, the increase of €59.9 million was mainly triggered by an equity injection of €20 million to Air Malta and an increase of €16.3 million in EU funds related to the Infrastructure Ministry.

Expenditure financed by EU funds by the Resources Ministry went up by €8 million, while the contribution towards the Treasury Clearance Fund added €7 million. Moreover, higher outlays were recorded in the ICT core services agreement (+€6 million) and film industry incentives (+€3.3 million).

During the period under review, an increase of €8.5 million was registered in the interest component of the public debt servicing costs.

At the end of September, central government debt stood at €4,683.2 million, up by €315 million, or 7.2 per cent, over the corresponding period last year.

This increase was the result of higher long-term borrowing, which added €328.7 million, and a rise in short-term securities by €15 million.

On the other hand, foreign borrowing declined by €12.5 million. As a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in MGSs resulted in a reduction of €20.7 million.