Malta’s deficit continued to rise in August mainly because of a bulging government wage bill and millions of euros transferred to Malta Public Transport for the bus service.

Figures published by the NSO yesterday show that in the first eight months of 2014, the deficit stood at €210 million, up 6.6 per cent over the same period in 2013.

While recurrent revenue increased by €149 million between January and August, expenditure rose by €162 million.

Salaries paid to government employees reached €427 million by August, an increase of €33 million compared with the same period a year before.

Contributions to government entities also shot up, by €32 million.

The government is spending more on programmes and initiatives, which reached €1.1 billion by August, an increase of €56 million over August 2013.

Higher income from taxes, particularly income tax, VAT and social security contributions meant more revenue to the government, up by 8.1 per cent in the first eight months of the year, reaching almost €2 billion.

Last year, the government announced plans to cut the country’s deficit to 2.1 per cent of GDP by the end of this year.