By the end of June, the government’s consolidated fund registered a deficit of €258.5 million, according to national data.

Compared to the previous year, the government's recurrent revenue and total expenditure increased by €354.6 million and €148.9 million, respectively.

In a statement on Friday, the National Statistics Office said that in the first half of the year, recurrent revenue amounted to €2,920.8 million. The largest increases were recorded under income tax (€164.1 million), grants (€68.1 million), social security (€42.2 million) and VAT (€30.6 million).

On the other hand, the main drops in revenue were reported under the Central Bank of Malta (€22.2 million).

That means that the total expenditure by the end of June 2023 stood at €3,179.3 million - €148.9 million higher than the previous year.

In its statement, the NSO reported that during the reference period, recurrent expenditure totalled €2,764.0 million - an increase of €90.1 million compared to the €2,673.9 million reported at the end of June 2022.

The main contributor to this increase was a €58.6 million rise reported under contributions to government entities. Higher contributions were, among others, made towards the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (€10.5 million), Malta Tourism Authority (€8.0 million) and Mental Health Services (€7.6 million).

Capital spending

Between January and June 2023, the government’s capital spending amounted to €315.3 million - €44.4 million higher than the figure recorded in 2022. This increase resulted primarily from higher expenditure towards the REPowerEU initiative (€20.0 million), property, plant and equipment (€17.9 million) and national identity management systems (€4.4 million).

The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €258.5 million, reported in the government’s consolidated fund at the end of June 2023.

Compared to the same period in 2022, there was a decrease in deficit of €205.7 million.

This difference mirrors an increase in total recurrent revenue (€354.6 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consists of recurrent expenditure (€90.1 million), Interest (€14.4 million) and Capital Expenditure (€44.4 million) (Table 1).

At the end of June 2023, Central Government debt stood at €9,170.7 million - an increase of €756.8 million when compared to 2022. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€793.0 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt.