Total government revenue decreased by €193.6 million in the first quarter this year while expenditure increased by €99.5 million compared with the same period in 2019. Figures by the National Statistics Office show that General Government expenditure between January and March amounted to €1,286.6 million while income totalled €949.9 million, resulting in a €336, 668 million deficit.
In comparison, the first quarter in 2019 closed at a deficit of slightly over €43,500 million. The biggest quarterly deficit in the five years until now was experienced in Q1 2015, registering a negative balance of nearly €152,500.
In relation to the previous quarter, General Government saw a decrease in revenue from all sectors except Property Income receivables, which rose from €9,853 million in Q4 2019 to €25,138 in the first three months this year. The sharpest drop was witnessed in Market Output which shrank by 55 percent from the last quarter of last year to reach €74,566 million in Q1 2020.
The biggest decrease of revenue in absolute terms was registered in Current Taxes on Income and Wealth, which dipped by more than €228 million in the last quarter from €500 million in Q4 2019.
Meanwhile, government expenditure also decreased from the last three months of 2019, when it stood at €1,366, 898. The main increases in expenditure were registered in Social Benefits, Subsidies, Compensation of Employees, and Current Taxes which contributed to a total of €1,286,569 in the first quarter this year.
