Government registers €56.4 million surplus in first 9 months of 2017

Between January-September 2017, Government’s Consolidated Fund registered a surplus of €56.4 million, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €346.7 million whereas total expenditure went up by €226.6 million. This resulted in a positive change in the Government’s Consolidated Fund by €120.1 million.

In January-September 2017, recurrent revenue was recorded at €2,972.3 million, up from €2,625.6 million last year.

The comparative increase of 13.2 per cent was primarily the result of higher Income Tax and Value Added Tax which increased by €83.4 million and €78.5 million respectively.

Moreover, increases were also recorded for Social Security (€48.3 million), Grants (€40.0 million), Fees of Office (€35.3 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€27.2 million), Reimbursements (€18.9 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€16.5 million) and Dividends on Investment (€4.2 million). Conversely, decreases were mainly recorded in Miscellaneous Receipts (€4.5 million) and Rents (€1.0 million).

Compared to January-September last year, total expenditure stood at €2,915.9 million up from €2,689.3 million due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure which outweighed lower spending on interest payments.

Recurrent expenditure stood at €2,543.0 million from €2,313.4 million last year.

Expenses increased by €16.3 million and €12.5 million respectively.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €163.0 million, down from €170.2 million last year.

Government’s capital expenditure witnessed an increase of €4.2 million, and was recorded at €210.0 million.

At the end of September 2017, Central Government Debt stood at €5,560.9 million, up by €31.8 million over the corresponding month last year. This was the result of higher Malta Government Stocks and the new 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond which added €130.7 million and €69.9 million respectively.

Moreover Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury increased by €6.3 million. On the other hand, Treasury Bills and Foreign Loans went down by €140.4 million and €10.4 million respectively. Higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €24.4 million.

Commenting on the result, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said: “It is encouraging to note this year’s consistent improvements in the consolidated fund balance over last year’s already successful outcome. I am also pleased to note that the fiscal performance for the first nine months of this year is better than the Budget projections for the same period, auguring well for the end-of-year fiscal outturn.”