A deficit of €167.5 million was recorded in the first quarter this year down from €224.6 million in the corresponding period last year, the National Statistics Office said.

It said in a statement that an increase of €73.7 million in recurrent revenue outweighed the added expenditure of €16.6 million, resulting in a reduction of €57.1 million in the government deficit.

During the first quarter, recurrent revenue stood at €596.5 million, up by 14.1 per cent over last year. This was mainly due to higher proceeds from grants (+€48.1 million), income tax (+€36.1 million) and Social Security (+€9 million).

These were partially offset by lower returns from value added tax by €10.9 million.

Total expenditure amounted to €764 million, up by 2.2 per cent compared to last year, as a result of added outlays on capital expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure went down by €10.1 million and contributions to government entities and operational and maintenance expenditure by €6 million and €5.9 million, respectively.

Conversely, an increase of €8.2 million was registered in personal emoluments.

Expenditure on government’s capital projects was registered at €104.1 million. The increase of €28.8 million over the corresponding period in 2012 included an equity injection of €40 million to the national air carrier, up from €20 million last year.

An increase in capital outlays was also recorded in road construction and in the ICT core services agreement, by €4 million and €3 million, respectively.

During the period under review, the interest component of the public debt servicing costs went down by €2.1 million to €51.4 million.

At the end of March, government debt stood at €4,976.7 million, up by €307.1 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher short-term and long-term borrowing, which added €71.5 million and €215.1 million, respectively. On the other hand, foreign borrowing went down by €12.4 million.

Moreover, as a result of consolidation, lower holdings by government funds in MGSs resulted in an increase in debt of €27.3 million.

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