€31 million surplus registered in first eight months of the year
In January-August 2017, Government’s Consolidated Fund registered a surplus of €31.1 million, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.
Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €261.2 million whereas total expenditure went up by €150.9 million. This resulted in a positive change in the Government’s Consolidated Fund by €110.2 million.
In January-August 2017, recurrent revenue was recorded at €2,583.8 million, up from €2,322.6 million last year. The comparative increase of 11.2 per cent was primarily the result of higher Income Tax and Value Added Tax which increased by €62.1 million and €43.2 million respectively.
Moreover, increases were also recorded for Social Security (€38.7 million), Grants (€35.4 million), Fees of Office (€33.6 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€25.4 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€11.5 million), Dividends on Investment (€6.7 million) and Reimbursements (€6.3 million). Conversely, decreases were mainly recorded in Miscellaneous Receipts (€1.3 million).
Compared to January-August last year, total expenditure stood at €2,552.7 million up from €2,401.8 million due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure which outweighed lower spending on capital expenditure and interest payments.
Recurrent expenditure stood at €2,221.6 million from €2,063.7 million last year. The main contributors to this increase were Programmes and Initiatives and Personal Emoluments with a rise of €133.7 million and €25.6 million respectively.
The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays due to social security benefits (€34.6 million), Health Concession Agreements (€25.2 million), higher EU Own Resources (€21.8 million), EU Presidency 2017 (€15.8 million), state contribution (€11.0 million which also features as revenue), Jobsplus Programmes (€7.1 million), Electoral Commission activities (€5.5 million), solid waste management (€3.2 million), child care for all (€3.0 million), public social partnership (€2.5 million), allocation to local councils (€1.5 million) and Medicines and Surgical Materials (€1.1 million). Contributions to Government Entities increased by €2.0 million. Decreases were registered in Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€3.5 million).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €144.4 million, down from €149.8 million last year.
Government’s capital expenditure witnessed a decrease of €1.6 million, and was recorded at €186.7 million. This was mainly the result of lower spending on Film Industry incentives (€6.2 million) and EU external borders fund (€3.8 million). On the other hand higher outlays related to EU internal security borders and VISA (€5.9 million) and investment incentives (€3.6 million) were recorded.
At the end of August 2017, Central Government Debt stood at €5,545.5 million, down by €9.1 million 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 €155.7 million and €6.8 million respectively.
On the other hand, Treasury Bills and Foreign Loans went down by €139.2 million and €10.4 million respectively. Higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €22.1 million.
Reacting, the government said this was the best result (for the first eight months of the year) registered in recent years.
While a €9 million surplus was registered in 2016 there, in the first eight months of the year there was a deficit of €79 million. This means that, during the same period this year, there was an improvement of €110 million.
In the same period in 2012 there was a deficit of €268 million, which means that the overall situation has improved by almost €300 million, the government said.
Government income was €879 higher than in the last year of the PN administration.
The government said its wise financial policies are leading to strong economic growth and added trust in the country by foreign investors and institutions. “Without any austerity measures Malta now has the best public finances in Europe. These results will allow the government to keel taking positive measures that improve the quality of life of families,” the statement said.