A deficit of €12.8 million was registered in the government’s consolidated fund between January and March, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that compared to the first quarter of last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €128.9 million whereas total expenditure went up by €18.4 million. This resulted in a positive change in the government’s consolidated fund by €110.5 million.

Recurrent revenue was recorded at €873.7 million, up from €744.9 million last year. The comparative increase of 17.3% was primarily the result of higher grants and value added tax which increased by €33.6 million and €21.3 million respectively.

Compared to January-March last year, total expenditure stood at €886.5 million up from €868.2 million, mainly as result of added outlays on recurrent expenditure which outweighed lower spending on interest payments and capital expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure stood at €787.4 million from €758.1 million last year. The main contributors to this increase were programmes and initiatives and personal emoluments with a rise of €26.7 million and €6.3 million respectively.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €55.3 million, down from €58 million last year.

Government’s capital expenditure witnessed a decrease of €8.3 million, and was recorded at €43.8 million.

At the end of March 2017, central government debt stood at €5,625.4 million, up by €66.7 million over the corresponding month last year.

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