In the period January-May 2014, the deficit of the Government’s Consolidated Fund amounted to €238.9 million, the National Statistics Office said today.

During the first five months, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €58.0 million while expenditure went up by €106.1 million when compared to the corresponding period last year, thereby widening the shortfall between recurrent revenue and total expenditure by €48.1 million.

During January-May 2014, recurrent revenue was recorded at €1,154.1 million, up by 5.3 per cent over last year. The main contributors to this increase were Value Added Tax (€26.7 million), Social Security Contributions (€21.1 million) and Income Tax (€17.5 million). Conversely, Customs and Excise Duties registered a decline of €8.4 million.

Recurrent expenditure increased by €114.1 million, mainly as a result of higher spending on Programmes and Initiatives (€57.0 million) and Contributions to Government Entities (€28.4 million).

The major increases registered in the Programmes and Initiatives category were recorded in medicines and surgical materials (€16.5 million), EU Own Resources (€9.6 million), and the contribution to Church Schools (€4.0 million).

In contrast, social security benefits went down by €12.2 million. In addition, Personal Emoluments and Operational and Maintenance Expenditure increased by €18.7 million and €10.0 million respectively.

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs for the period under review rose to €92.3 million from €91.8 million last year.

Expenditure on Government’s capital projects amounted to €149.5 million. The fall of €8.4 million over the corresponding period last year was mainly the result of a lower equity injection to the national air carrier (€25.0 million) which was partially outweighed by higher spending on capital projects under the EU Cohesion Funds.

At the end of May, Central Government debt stood at €5,283.8 million, up by €219.3 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher Long-term and Short- term Borrowing, which added €199.8 million and €17.7 million respectively. On the other hand, foreign borrowing went down by €10.6 million.

As a result of consolidation, lower holdings by government funds in MGSs brought about an increase in debt of €8.1 million. The euro coins issued in the name of the Maltese Treasury went up by €4.4 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of May 2013, and totalled €56.1 million.

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