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By the end of January 2023, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €120.9 million.

In January 2023, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €352.0 million, slightly lower than the €352.1 million reported a year earlier. The largest drop was recorded under Grants (€8.9 million), followed by Miscellaneous Receipts (€7.4 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€5.1 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€3.3 million) and Sales-Goods (€0.1 million). On the other hand, higher revenue was reported under Income Tax (€14.7 million), Value Added Tax (€4.7 million), Social Security (€4.0 million), Fees of Office (€1.3 million) and Reimbursements (€0.1 million).

By the end of January 2023, total expenditure stood at €472.9 million, €54.6 million higher than the previous year.

During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €443.3 million, an increase of €59.6 million in comparison to the €383.7 million reported in January 2022. The main contributor to this increase was a €51.4 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, increases were also witnessed under Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€5.4 million) and Personal Emoluments (€5.0 million). This rise in expenditure outweighed a decrease under Contributions to Government Entities (€2.3 million). The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays towards Social security benefits (€51.2 million), Residential care in private homes (€7.6 million), Extension of school transport network (€6.3 million), SVPR service contract (€2.3 million), Pharmacy of your choice (€2.1 million) and Gas stabilisation fund (€2.0 million). This rise in Programmes and Initiatives was partly offset by a decrease under the Pandemic assistance schemes (€21.0 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €14.5 million, an increase of €1.3 million when compared to the previous year.

By the end of January 2023, Government’s capital spending amounted to €15.1 million, €6.3 million lower than 2022. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards Road construction and improvements (€8.0 million) and Identity Malta Agency – ICT (€1.4 million). The drop in capital outlay was partially offset by increases witnessed under National Identity Management Systems (€2.0 million) and Acquisition of property for public purposes (€0.7 million).

The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €120.9 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of January 2023. Compared to the same period in 2022, there was an increase in deficit of €54.7 million. This difference mirrors a decrease in total Recurrent Revenue (€0.1 million), coupled with a rise in total expenditure, which consists of Recurrent Expenditure (€59.6 million), Interest (€1.3 million) and Capital Expenditure (€6.3 million) (Table 1).

At the end of January 2023, Central Government debt stood at €8,902.6 million, an increase of €774.8 million when compared to 2022. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€669.4 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under Treasury Bills (€238.6 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€5.2 million). This increase in debt was partially offset by a decrease in the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€100.0 million) and Foreign Loans (€0.1 million). Finally, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €38.3 million (Table 4).

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY NSO

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