The shortfall between the government’s recurrent revenue and total expenditure in January amounted to €58.1 million, down from €129.3 million in January last year.

Government’s expenditure is legally constrained by the Constitution because the budget was not approved.

The National Statistics Office said that compared to January last year, lower spending was registered in all expenditure components resulting in a fall in total expenditure of €10.2 million, to €276.7 million. Recurrent expenditure declined by €9.3 million, totalling €222.4 million

Recurrent revenue in January registered an increase of €61 million while expenditure went down by €10.2 million, thereby narrowing the deficit between recurrent revenue and total expenditure to €58.1 million.

Recurrent revenue was recorded at €218.5 million, up from €157.6 million last year.

Central government debt at the end of January stood at €4,765.5 million, up by €322.8 million over the corresponding period last year.

This increase was the result of higher long-term and short-term borrowing, which added €297.5 million and €53.7 million, respectively. Foreign borrowing went down by €12.5 million.

Moreover, as a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in MGSs resulted in a reduction of €20.7 million.