Bernard Grech spent just over €36,000 on his electoral campaign to become Nationalist Party leader, an audit he released on Saturday revealed.

Grech had pledged to publish an audit of his campaign expenses when he launched a crowdfunding drive to drum up funds for his campaign, which he won handsomely against Adrian Delia last week.

The new PN and Opposition leader raised just over €51,000 throughout that campaign and other minor donations. A balance of €14,973 which was left over when €36,437 in expenses were deducted and will be donated to the PN, he said on Saturday.

The audit report, which covered the period between August 27 and October 7, was signed off by accountant Beppe Muscat.

It indicates that the lion’s share of Grech’s campaign expenses – €17,546, or 48 per cent of total expenses – came in the form of postage costs.

Those expenses dwarfed others such as advertising (€4,683), bank charges (€3,233) or money spent on meals, snacks and drinks (€3,136).

Other, more minor expenses incurred by the Grech campaign were for office supplies, printing and stationery (€2,951 in total), transportation (€1,136) and negligible amounts on rent, telecommunications and accommodation.

Grech thanked all those who had donated to his campaign and urged party supporters to reach into their pockets and donate to the PN during a fundraiser planned for Sunday.