Government reports €135.5m deficit by March – NSO
By the end of March, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €135.5m, the NSO reported Friday.
Between January and March, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €1,433.7m, €285.3m higher than the value reported a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded under Income Tax (€155m), followed by Grants (€88.9m), Value Added Tax (€31.7m), Social Security (€11.3m), Sales-Others (€8.7m), Customs and Excise Duties (€5.1m), Dividends on Investment (€1.7m), Interest on loans made by Government (€0.3m), Reimbursements (€0.2m) and Sales-Services (€0.2m). On the other hand, lower revenue was reported under Miscellaneous Receipts (€15.9m), Rents (€1.1m), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€0.5m), Sales-Goods (€0.1m) and Fees of Office (€0.1m).
Total expenditure during the first quarter of 2023 stood at €1,569.2m, €49.2m higher than the previous year.
During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €1,403.1m, an increase of €44.6m in comparison to the value of €1,358.6m reported at the end of March 2022. The main contributor to this increase was an increase of €34.2m reported under Contributions to Government Entities. Higher contributions were, among others, made towards Mental Health Services (€6.5m), Malta Tourism Authority (€5.1m), Malta Financial Services Authority (€4.4m) and Environment and Resources Authority (€3.7m).
Furthermore, increases were also recorded under Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€22.6m) and Personal Emoluments (€15m). This rise in expenditure outweighed a decrease under Programmes and Initiatives (€27.3m). The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved lower outlays towards pandemic assistance schemes (€59m) and Economic stimulus payment (€48.2m). Conversely, higher outlay was recorded under Energy support measures (€39m), Social security benefits (€23.3m), Street lighting and other services (€10m) and EU own resources (€8.9m).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €45.4m, an increase of €8.6m when compared to the previous year.
By the end of March, government’s capital spending amounted to €120.7m, €4m lower than the figure registered in 2022. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards Road construction and improvements (€10.2m) and Investment incentives (€4.8m). The drop in capital outlay was partially offset by increases witnessed under Property, plant and equipment (€4.9m), Digitalisation of health systems (€3.8m) and National Identity Management Systems (€2.3m).
The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €135.5m being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of March. Compared to the same period in 2022, there was a decrease in deficit of €236.1m. This difference mirrors an increase in total Recurrent Revenue (€285.3m), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of increases in Recurrent Expenditure (€44.6m) and Interest (€8.6m) and a drop in Capital Expenditure (€4m).
At the end of March, Central Government debt stood at €9,166.4m, an increase of €700.2m when compared to 2022. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€781.2m) was the main contributor to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under Treasury Bills (€46.6m) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€5m).
This increase in debt was partially offset by a decrease in the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€99.9m) and Foreign Loans (€0.1m). Finally, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €32.7m.