The government’s shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure for the first 11 months of this year amounted to €271 million, the National Statistics Office said.
It said that according to data obtained from the consolidated fund, the shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure for this period increased by €80 million.
An increase of €159.4 million in total expenditure was partly offset by an increase of €79.3 million in recurrent revenue.
The consolidated fund recorded increases in revenue of €79.5 million and of €35.4 million from income and value added taxes, respectively.
Social security contributions added €22.3 million during the period under review. At the same time, revenue from grants declined by €25.7 million while revenue classified under miscellaneous receipts declined by €12.7 million.
Recurrent expenditure amounted to €1,839.3 million, an increase of €162.4 million compared to the first 11 months last year. Significant increases in recurrent expenditure were recorded under social security benefits (+€47.9 million), under the Ministry of Health, the Elderly and Community Care (+€28.5 million), and under the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology (+€25.3 million).
During the period under review the interest component of the public debt servicing costs amounted to €181.1 million, a comparative increase of €10.1 million over last year.
The capital programme for the first 11 months this year declined by €13.1 million and amounted to €194.5 million. During this period capital expenditure under the Ministry of Health, the Elderly and Community Care increased by €12.2 million, while capital expenditure under the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment increased by €10.2 million. On the other hand, lower expenditure in respect of construction works and equipment under the Mater Dei Hospital project brought about a decline of €39.1 million in the capital outlay of the Ministry of Finance. Expenditure on capital projects by the Ministry for Gozo also declined by €7.1 million.
Loans taken up by the government during this period amounted to €285.7 million, of which €93.2 million were on account of matured stock.
The government’s debt outstanding at the end of November amounted to €3,520.8 million, an increase of €205.6 million compared to the gross government debt outstanding at the end of November last year.
Long-term borrowing increased by €201.1 million, while short-term and foreign borrowing declined by €20.5 million and by €5.3 million respectively.