In the third quarter of last year, the General Government account registered a shortfall of €49.4 million.

Quarterly Non-Financial Accounts (t/t-4) – The deficit recorded by the General Government for the third quarter of last year amounted to €49.4 million, down from €74.0 million in the comparable period of 2009.

During the September quarter, total revenue stood at €580.6 million, an increase of €50.3 million compared to the corresponding quarter in 2009. The main contributors were ‘current taxes on income and wealth’ (+€32.9 million), ‘capital transfers receivable’ (+€20.3 million) and ‘property income receivable’ (+€10.8 million). Conversely, falls in revenue were recorded in ‘taxes on production and imports’ and ‘market output’ of €7.5 million and €5.0 million respectively.

Total expenditure stood at €630.0 million, up by €25.7 million from the comparable period in 2009. These increases were mainly triggered by ‘current transfers payable’ (+€14.7 million), ‘social benefits and social transfers in kind’ (+€10.7 million) and ‘capital transfers payable’ (+€9.6 million), among others. In contrast, ‘property income’ registered a fall of €10.4 million.

Quarterly Financial Accounts (t/t-1) – During the period under review, the major increase in financial transactions in assets was recorded in ‘currency and deposits’ of €88.1 million. In addition, ‘long-term loans’ went up by €5.1 million, mainly underpinned by the loan facility to Greece, which amounted to €19.8 million. These were outweighed by a decline of €30.0 million in ‘other accounts receivable’.

With regard to financial transactions in liabilities, ‘long-term securities’ registered an increase of €169.3 million while ‘short-term securities’ dropped by €92.2 million. Conversely, ‘short-term loans’ and ‘long-term loans’ exhibited rises of €1.9 million and €3.2 million respectively. An increase of €29.5 million was recorded in ‘other accounts payable’.

Quarterly Debt (t/t-4) – Total General Government debt outstanding at the end of September 2010 increased by €323.4 million from the comparable period in 2009, and amounted to €4,257.3 million.

Central Government debt increased by €323.3 million. This was characterised by higher long-term securities (Malta Government Stocks) which went up by €423.3 million. In contrast, Central Government short-term securities and loans declined by €99.4 million and €4.3 million respectively.

The euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury, which are considered as a currency liability pertaining to the Central Government, amounted to €40.6 million, a rise of €3.7 million over the coin stock recorded at the end of September 2009. In addition, the Local Government debt edged up by €0.1 million.

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