The government’s Consolidated Fund registered a deficit of €204.5 million between January and October, a positive change of €78.1 million.

The National Statistics Office said that in the period under review, recurrent revenue was recorded at €2,766.1 million, up from €2,499.9 million last year. The major contributors to the comparative increase of 10.6 per cent were higher proceeds from customs and excise duties (€83.4 million) and income tax (€74.8 million).

Proceeds from the Central Bank of Malta recorded a decline of €2 million. Compared to the same period last year, total expenditure increased by €188.2 million due to higher capital and recurrent expenditures and interest payments.

Recurrent expenditure went up by €162.9 million, totalling €2,434.1 million. Programmes and initiatives recorded the highest increase at €91.8 million.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €195.8 million, up by €3.8 million from last year.

Government’s capital expenditure was recorded at €340.7 million, up by €21.5 million from last year. This increase was mainly due to outlays on the autoclave animal waste facility of €10.9 million, an increase in the acquisition of property for public purposes (€10.4 million), higher enterprise investment incentives (€9.2 million) and added expenditure funded by the external borders fund (€7.7 million), among others.

These increases were partially outweighed by a lower equity injection to the national air carrier.

At the end of October 2015, Central Government Debt stood at €5,393.2 million, an increase of €17.4 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher Malta Government Stocks by €126.2 million, partially outweighed by lower treasury bills and foreign loans by €74.9 million and €10.6 million respectively.

As a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a reduction in debt of €30 million.