The government registered a deficit of €13.1 million in January, according to the National Statistics Office.

Compared to the same month last year, recurrent revenue increased by €21.9 million whereas total expenditure went up by €19.1 million. This resulted in a positive change in the Government’s Consolidated Fund of €2.8 million.

The comparative increase in revenue of 8.4 per cent was primarily the result of higher income tax and social security which both increased by €16.5 million and €13.9 million respectively.

On the other hand, recurrent spending went up to €268.5 million from €249.5 million last year, with wages up by €7.8 million. There was also an increase of €7.6 million on programmes and initiatives, mainly added outlays due to state contribution (€6.8 million which also features as revenue), Health Concession Agreements (€5.1 million), Feed in Tariff (€5.0 million) and social security benefits (€3.6 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €18.3 million, up from €17.5 million last year.

Government’s capital expenditure witnessed a decrease of €0.7 million, and was recorded at €9.3 million. This was mainly the result of lower outlays related to EU Cohesion Fund 2007-2013 (€1.2 million).

At the end of January 2018, debt stood at €5.4 billion, down by €112.2 million over the corresponding month last year. This was the result of lower Malta Government Stocks and Treasury Bills which decreased by €113 million and €86.2 million respectively.