In January-September 2016, Government's Consolidated Fund registered a deficit of €63.6 million, the National Statistics Office said today.

Recurrent revenue registered an increase of €112.7 million, whereas total expenditure went up by €14.7 million compared to the same period last year. This resulted in a positive change in the Government's Consolidated Fund by €98.0 million. In January-September 2016, recurrent revenue was recorded at €2,625.6 million, up from €2,512.9 million last year.

The comparative increase of 4.5 per cent was primarily the result of higher Income Tax and Social Security which increased by €101.9 million and €52.3 million respectively. Moreover, increases were also recorded for Licences, Taxes and Fines (€24.8 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€13.4 million) and Value Added Tax (€13.0 million), among others. Conversely, major decreases were recorded in proceeds from Grants (€100.1 million).

Compared to January-September last year, total expenditure stood at €2,689.3 million up from €2,674.6 million, mainly as result of added outlays on recurrent expenditure which outweighed lower spending on capital expenditure and interest payments.

Recurrent expenditure stood at €2,313.4 million from €2,197.9 million last year. This was due to higher outlays on all components of recurrent expenditure whereby Contributions to Government Entities went up by €46.9 million and Programmes and Initiatives increased by €29.7 million.

The main developments in the latter category involved higher social security benefits (€20.5 million), a rise in the social security state contribution (of €18.5 million which also features as revenue), added outlays due to EU Presidency 2017 (€9.0 million) and CHOGM (€3.3 million). On the other hand, lower EU Own Resources were recorded (€21.2 million). Increases were also registered in Personal Emoluments (€25.6 million) and Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€13.2 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €170.2 million, down from €173.4 million last year.

Government's capital expenditure witnessed a decline of €97.6 million, and was recorded at €205.7 million. This was mainly the result of lower spending on EU funded projects.

At the end of September 2016, Central Government Debt stood at €5,529.2 million, up by €122.9 million over the corresponding period last year. This was the result of higher Malta Government Stocks and Treasury Bills, which added €147.0 million and €17.2 million respectively.

On the other hand, Domestic Loans with Commercial Banks and Foreign Loans went down by €56.4 million and €10.5 million respectively. Lower holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in an increase in debt of €20.1 million.

The Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury went up by €5.5 million when compared to the coin stock as at the end of September 2015, and totalled €70.9 million.

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