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By the end of November 2022, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €620.5 million.

Between January and November 2022, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €5,107.6 million, 12.2 per cent higher than the €4,553.2 million reported a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded under Value Added Tax (€236.0 million), followed by Income Tax (€190.6 million), Social Security (€141.0 million), Grants (€52.0 million), Reimbursements (€7.5 million), Rents (€2.9 million) and Licences, Taxes and Fines (€2.1 million). The rise in revenue was partially offset by decreases under Miscellaneous Receipts (€28.8 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€20.6 million), Central Bank of Malta (€10.9 million), Dividends on Investment (€9.5 million) and Fees of Office (€7.8 million).

By the end of November 2022, total expenditure stood at €5,728.1 million, €67.3 million higher than the previous year.

During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €5,017.5 million, an increase of €134.8 million in comparison to the €4,882.8 million reported during the corresponding period in 2021. The main contributor to this increase was a €102.3 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, increases were also witnessed under Personal Emoluments (€25.2 million) and Contributions to Government Entities (€18.6 million). This rise in expenditure outweighed a decrease under Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€11.3 million). The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays towards Energy support measures (€140.9 million), Economic stimulus payments (€47.5 million), Carbon credits (€40.0 million), Social security benefits (€39.4 million) and Covid 19 supplies (€38.8 million). This rise in Programmes and Initiatives was partly offset by a decrease under the Pandemic assistance schemes (€200.7 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €156.5 million, a decrease of €10.7 million when compared to the previous year.

By the end of November 2022, Government’s capital spending amounted to €554.1 million, €56.8 million lower than 2021. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards Road construction and improvements (€34.0 million), Property, plant and equipment (€15.9 million), Gozo Aquatic Centre (€9.6 million) and Acquisition of property for public purposes (€6.3 million). The drop in capital outlay was partially offset by an €11.8 million increase witnessed under Film industry incentives.

The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €620.5 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of November 2022. Compared to the same period in 2021, there was a decrease in deficit of €487.1 million. This difference mirrors an increase in total Recurrent Revenue (€554.4 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of Recurrent Expenditure (€134.8 million), Interest (-€10.7 million) and Capital Expenditure (-€56.8 million) (Table 1).

At the end of November 2022, Central Government debt stood at €8,864.5 million, an increase of €707.5 million from 2021. 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 (€213.5 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€4.9 million). This increase in debt was partially offset by a decrease in the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€99.7 million) and Foreign Loans (€0.1 million). Finally, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €80.5 million (Table 6) ■

“ARTICLE WRITTEN BY NSO“

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