Government’s consolidated fund registered a deficit of €158 million in the first six months of the year.

During January-June, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €193.1 million which outweighed the rise in expenditure of €85.8 million, resulting in a positive change in the government’s consolidated fund of €107.2 million.

In the second quarter, recurrent revenue was recorded at €1,607.4 million, up from €1,414.3 million last year.

Compared to the first six months last year, total expenditure recorded an increase of €85.8 million due to higher recurrent and capital expenditures and interest payments.

Recurrent expenditure went up by €66.4 million, totalling €1,443.2 million.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs for the first half of 2015 stood at €116.2 million up by €4.9 million from last year.

Government’s capital expenditure was recorded at €206 million, up by €14.5 million from last year. This increase was mainly due to added outlays on the acquisition of property for public purposes and EU funded expenditure on agriculture.

At the end of June, central government debt stood at €5,384.8 million, a decline of €99.4 million over the same period last year.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said the data confirmed the government's ability to attain its fiscal commitments.

"Over the course of the last two years, this government proved able to progressively lower the fiscal deficit by employing a growth-friendly consolidation approach.

"This not only helped Malta to exit from the excessive deficit procedure but also to be one of the fastest growing economies in the Euro Area," he said.

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