Government expenditure’s up as revenue increases by €171.4 million

Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue registered an increase of €171.4 million whereas total expenditure went up by €152.8 million, data by the National Statistics Office shows.

This resulted in a positive change in the Government’s Consolidated Fund by €18.6 million.

In January-June 2017, recurrent revenue was recorded at €1,828.4 million, up from €1,657.1 million last year. The comparative increase of 10.3 per cent was primarily the result of higher Value Added Tax and Grants which increased by €43.0 million and €35.8 million respectively.

Moreover, increases were also recorded for Fees of Office (€35.1 million), Social Security (€19.1 million), Income Tax (€13.1 million), Customs and Excise Duties (€9.3 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€8.6 million) and Dividends on Investment (€5.2 million) among others. Conversely, decreases were mainly recorded in Miscellaneous Receipts (€2.7 million).

Compared to January-June last year, total expenditure stood at €1,920.4 million up from €1,767.7 million due to added outlays on recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure which outweighed lower spending on interest payments.

Recurrent expenditure stood at €1,674.2 million from €1,529.6 million last year. The main contributors to this increase were Programmes and Initiatives and Personal Emoluments with a rise of €118.4 million and €17.4 million respectively. The main developments in the Programmes and Initiatives category involved added outlays due to social security benefits (€56.6 million), higher EU Own Resources (€22.5 million), EU Presidency 2017 (€17.3 million), Health Concession Agreements (€13.7 million), state contribution (€8.6 million which also features as revenue) and child care for all (€2.5 million).

On the other hand, lower outlays for Medicines and Surgical Materials were recorded (€2.8 million). Contributions to Government Entities increased by €10.7 million. Decreases were registered in Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€1.9 million).

The interest component of the public debt servicing costs stood at €106.2 million, down from €111.8 million last year.

Government’s capital expenditure witnessed an increase of €13.8 million, and was recorded at €140.1 million. This was mainly the result of higher spending on road construction improvements (€4.0 million), investment incentives (€3.2 million) and higher capital spending on Armed Forces of Malta (€3.0 million) and on University of Malta (€2.4 million).