The government in the third quarter of last year had a deficit of €49.4 million, down from €74.0 million in the comparable period of 2009.
The NSO said that total revenue stood at €580.6 million, an increase of €50.3 million compared to the corresponding quarter in 2009. The main contributors were income tax (+€32.9 million), capital transfers receivable (+€20.3 million) and property tax (+€10.8 million).
There was a drop in revenue from taxes on production and imports and market output of €7.5 million and €5.0 million respectively.
Total expenditure stood at €630.0 million, up by €25.7 million from the comparable period in 2009, mainly triggered by ‘current transfers payable’ (+€14.7 million), ‘social benefits and social transfers in kind’ (+€10.7 million) and ‘capital transfers payable’ (+€9.6 million).
The total General Government debt outstanding at the end of September 2010 increased by €323.4 million from the comparable period in 2009, and amounted to €4,257.3 million.
This was characterised by higher long-term securities (Malta Government Stocks) which went up by €423.3 million. In contrast, Central Government short-term securities and loans declined by €99.4 million and €4.3 million respectively.