Government spending grew faster than revenue in the first two months of this year, widening the deficit between recurrent revenue and total expenditure by €43.4 million to €143.0 million when compared to the same period of 2007.

The National Statistics Offoce (NSO) said an increase of €86.8 million in total expenditure (excluding equity acquisition) was partly offset by an increase of €43.4 million in recurrent revenue.

The Consolidated Fund recorded an increase of €13.6 million in revenue from income taxes, while revenue from fees of office and from the Central Bank of Malta increased by €5.6 million and by €5.4 million respectively. Dividends on investment also yielded €9.0 million during the period under review, while no such proceeds were recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Recurrent expenditure amounted to €352.0 million, an increase of €53.5 million compared to January and February 2007. The major increases were in social benefits which added €18.1 million -- this was the period when the new Children's allowance cheques were issued. Spending by the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment grew by €11.5 million.

Public debt servicing costs for January and February 2008 increased by €3.9 million, and amounted to €31.8 million.

Government's outlay on its Capital Programme (excluding equity acquisition) for the first two months of this year amounted to €53.4 million, an increase of €29.5 million when compared to the expenditure of €23.9 million for the
same period last year.

The Central Government debt outstanding at the end of February amounted to €3,285.5 million, an increase of €108.1 million compared to the gross Central Government debt outstanding at the end of February 2007.

While long-term borrowing increased by €136.4 million, short-term borrowing and foreign borrowing declined by €44.2 million and €6.5 million respectively. At the end of February, the stock of euro coins added to the gross government debt amounted to €22.4 million.