The shortfall between the Government’s recurrent revenue and total expenditure in the first eight months this year amounted to €196.9 million, down from €267.6 million in the same period last year.

The National Statistics Office said that an increase of €132.9 million in recurrent revenue outweighed the added expenditure of €62.2 million, resulting in a reduction of €70.7 million in the Government deficit.

Between January-August, recurrent revenue stood at €1,837.8 million, up by 7.8 per cent over last year.

Total expenditure was recorded at €2,034.7 million, up by 3.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding period last year. This was primarily due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure increased by €69.2 million, mainly as a result of higher spending on programmes and initiatives and on personal emoluments.

During the period under review, the interest component of the public debt servicing costs registered an increase of €1.1 million and was recorded at €148.6 million.

At the end of August, Central Government debt stood at €5,066.9 million, up by €234.1 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher long-term and short-term borrowing, which added €143.2 million and €100.1 million respectively. On the other hand, foreign borrowing went down by €11.9 million.

As a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in MGSs brought about a decline in debt of €2.5 million.