Government has ended 2020 with a deficit of €1,467.9 million, the NSO revealed today, some €250 million more than forecasted by former Finance Minister Edward Scicluna in the budget announced last October.
Last year, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €4,389.3 million, 11.7 per cent lower than the €4,972.9 million reported
a year earlier. Income Tax recorded the largest decrease of €229.1 million. Additional drops were also witnessed
under Value Added Tax (€177.1 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€86.7 million), Grants (€73.9 million), Customs
and Excise Duties (€67.7 million)
On the other hand, total expenditure stood at €5,857.2 million, 18.0 per cent higher than the previous year.
During the reference period, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €4,638.9 million, a rise of €422.7 million in comparison
to the €4,216.2 million reported in 2019. The main contributor to this increase was a €276.4 million rise recorded
under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, increases were also witnessed under Contributions to Government
Entities (€88.9 million), Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€38.4 million) and Personal Emoluments (€19.0
million).
