The government's consolidated fund registered a positive change of €18.6 million in the first six months of the year, new figures released by the National Statistics Office have shown.
Recurrent revenue rose by more than 10 per cent when compared to the same period last year while total expenditure was up by 9 per cent. The consolidated fund ended the period with a deficit of €92 million, the NSO said.
Revenue up
The €171.4 million increase in recurrent revenue, which stood at €1,828.4 million, was mainly fuelled by an increase in VAT and Grants revenue, which rose by €43 million and €35.8 million respectively.
Increases were also recorded for Fees of Office (€35.1m), Social Security (€19.1m), Income Tax (€13.1m), Customs and Excise Duties (€9.3m), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€8.6m) and Dividends on Investment (€5.2m). Revenue from Miscellaneous Receipts was down by €2.7 million.
Expenditure rises
Compared to January-June last year, total expenditure stood at €1,920.4 million up from €1,767.7 million, the NSO found.
The rise was due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure, which outweighed lower spending on interest payments.
Recurrent expenditure stood at €1,674.2 million from €1,529.6 million last year.
Increases were registered in Programmes and Initiatives and Personal Emoluments, which rose by €118.4m and €17.4m respectively. The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category
Programmes and Initiatives expenditure was up mainly due to added outlays in social security benefits (€56.6m), higher EU Own Resources
(€22.5m), EU Presidency spending (€17.3m), Health Concession Agreements (€13.7m), state contribution (€8.6m which also features as revenue) and child care for all (€2.5m).
The government spent less money than it had last year on Medicines and Surgical Materials (€2.8m).
Contributions to Government Entities increased by €10.7m. Decreases were registered in Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€1.9m).
Capital expenditure up
Capital expenditure rose by €13.8m to reach €140.1m during the first six months of the year, with most of the additional money being spent on fixing roads (€4m), investment incentives (€3.2m), AFM spending (€3m) and the University of Malta (€2.4m).
National debt
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €106.2m, down from €111.8m last year.
At the end of June 2017, Central Government Debt stood at €5,572m, up by €3.7m over the corresponding month last year. This was the result of higher Malta Government Stocks and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury, which added €153.9m and €5.2m respectively.
On the other hand, Treasury Bills and Foreign Loans went down by €126.9m and €10.4m respectively. Higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €18.1m.