Government’s Consolidated Fund registered a deficit of €104.9 million between January and October, three times lower than it was in the last full year of the previous administration, the government said.

In a statement issued this morning, the National Statistics Office said that government finance data showed that compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €141.1 million whereas total expenditure went up by €41.4 million. This resulted in a positive change in the government’s consolidated fund by €99.7 million.

Recurrent revenue was recorded at €2,907.2 million, up from €2,766.1 million last year. The comparative increase of 5.1 per cent was primarily the result of higher income tax and social security which increased by €110.8 million and €52 million respectively.

Compared to January-October last year, total expenditure stood at €3,012 million up from €2,970.6 million, mainly as result of added outlays on recurrent expenditure which outweighed the decreases in capital expenditure and interest payments.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €187 million, down from €195.8 million last year.

Government’s capital expenditure witnessed a decline of €110.2 million, and was recorded at €230.5 million. This was mainly the result of lower spending on EU funded projects.

At the end of October 2016, the central government debt stood at €5,679.9 million, up by €286.7 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher Malta government stocks and treasury bills, which added €272.6 million and €74.2 million respectively.

Domestic loans with commercial banks and foreign loans went down by €56.4 million and €10.5 million respectively.

Lower holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in an increase in debt of €2 million. The euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury went up by €4.8 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of October 2015, and totalled €71.5 million.

The government said in a statement the financial results obtained showed that the government was close to reaching its fiscal targets for this year, as confirmed by the Budget.

The government, it said, was expected to have the lowest deficit in recent history and a lower national debt burden.