In January-November 2015, Government's Consolidated Fund registered a deficit of €160.9 million, the National Statistics Office said today.

Compared to January-November 2014, recurrent revenue recorded an increase of €240.2 million which outweighed the rise in expenditure of €212.3 million, hence resulting in a positive change in the Government's Consolidated Fund of €27.9 million.

In the period under review, recurrent revenue was recorded at €3,135.7 million, up from €2,895.4 million last year.

The major contributors to the comparative increase of 8.3 per cent were higher proceeds from Income Tax (€97.1 million), Value Added Tax (€54.4 million), Licences, taxes and fines (€35.0 million) and Social Security (€33.4 million), among others. Conversely, proceeds from Customs and Excise Duties, Fees of Office and the Central Bank of Malta recorded a decline of €9.7 million, €6.0 million and €2.0 million respectively.

Compared to the same period last year, total expenditure increased by €212.3 million due to higher recurrent and capital expenditures and interest payments.

Recurrent expenditure went up by €202.1 million, totalling €2,705.4 million. Programmes and Initiatives recorded the highest increase at €114.4 million.

The major developments in this category involved added expenditure on EU own resources (€28.6 million), social security benefits (€27.9 million), higher outlays on the provision for spare capacity electricity (€14.2 million), social security state contribution, which also features as revenue (€9.3 million), the one-time additional bonus (€7.1 million) and child care for all (€5.6 million), among others. Other increases in recurrent expenditure were recorded in Contributions to Government Entities (€38.1 million), Personal Emoluments (€34.1 million) and Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€15.6 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €212.1 million, up by €1.5 million from last year.

Government's capital expenditure was recorded at €379.1 million, up by €8.7 million from last year. This increase was mainly due to outlays on the autoclave animal waste facility of €11.0 million, and added expenditure of €9.1 million funded by the external borders fund, among others. These increases were partially outweighed by a lower equity injection to the national air carrier.

At the end of November 2015, Central Government Debt stood at €5,468.7 million, an increase of €207.1 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher Malta Government Stocks by €254.2 million, partially outweighed by lower Treasury Bills and Foreign Loans by €13.1 million and €10.7 million respectively.

As a result of consolidation, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a reduction in debt of €30.0 million.

The Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury went up by €6.7 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of November 2014, and totalled €66.9 million.

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