Maltese gov’t deficit comes to €55m in January

The Maltese government’s consolidated fund registered a deficit of €55m by the end of January, while recurrent revenue rose by year-on-year €19.4m (6.8%) to €302.4m — from January 2018’s €283m —, according to recent figures published by Malta’s National Statistics Office (NSO).

The increase in revenue was primarily the result of a €13.7m rise in social security, the NSO says. Further growth was recorded as follows: income tax (€8.7m), value-added tax (€8.5m), reimbursements (€2.3m), licences, taxes and fines (€2.2m), rents (€2.0m), miscellaneous receipts (€1.8m) and dividends (€0.2m), according to NSO figures. Dropping figures were seen in customs and excise duties (€10.0m), grants (€7.5m), Central Bank of Malta (€2.0m) and fees of office (€0.5m).

Total expenditure stood at €357.4m in January 2019, growing by year-on-year 20.7%. The interest component of the public debt servicing costs amounted to €12.9m, dropping by €5.m from the previous year’s €18.3m.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.