By the end of April 2021, the Government’s Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €613.7 million, the NSO said today.
Malta’s deficit had shot up to 1.3 billion euros last year, equivalent to just over 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Revenue on the increase…
In the first four months of 2021, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €1,368.3 million, 17.2 per cent higher than the €1,167.6 million reported a year earlier. The largest increase was recorded under Income Tax (€122.2 million), followed by Social Security (€59.7 million), Value Added Tax (€48.2 million), Fees of Offi ce (€14.7 million) and
Reimbursements (€1.6 million). The rise in revenue was partially off set by decreases under Miscellaneous
Receipts (€15.9 million), Grants (€12.2 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€6.4 million), Rents (€5.8 million),
Customs and Excise Duties (€4.3 million) and Dividends on Investments (€1.2 million).
.…Expenditure shoots up by 11%
By the end of April 2021, total expenditure stood at €1,981.9 million, 11.7 per cent higher than the previous year. During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €1,751.9 million, a rise of €260.7 million in comparison to the €1,491.2 million reported by the end of April 2020. The main contributor to this increase was a €173.9 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives.
Furthermore, increases were also witnessed under Personal Emoluments (Salaries) (€66.1 million), Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€16.0 million) and Contributions to Government Entities (€4.7 million).
The largest development in the Programmes and Initiatives category is related to the Pandemic assistance scheme (€129.4 million), which includes the COVID-19 Business Assistance Programme. Other increases under Programmes and Initiatives were reported under Hospital concession agreements (€31.0 million), Social security benefits (€14.3 million), Church schools (€8.7 million) and St Vincent de Paul Residence service contract (€6.2 million).
