Government’s consolidated fund reports €151.7million deficit in January
The largest increases were recorded under VAT
Updated 2.53pm with PN reaction
By the end of January 2026, the government’s consolidated fund reported a deficit of €151.7 million, according to data published on Friday.
According to the National Statistics Office, the recurrent revenue last month amounted to €493.5 million - €97.7 million higher than the figure reported a year earlier.
The largest increases were recorded under Value Added Tax (€60.1 million), grants (€20.4 million) and licences, taxes and fines (€6.7 million). On the other hand, lower revenue was recorded under fees of office (€2.8 million) and sales – services (€1.3 million).
Total expenditure during January 2026 stood at €645.1 million, €63.7 million higher than the previous year.
During the reference period, recurrent expenditure totalled €584.4 million - an increase of €37.8 million compared to the €546.6 million reported the year prior.
The main contributor to this increase was a €19.3 million rise reported under programmes and initiatives. Further increases were also recorded under personal emoluments (€10.8 million), operational and maintenance expenses (€6.5 million), and contributions to government entities (€1.2 million).
The main developments in the programmes and initiatives category involved higher outlays towards social security benefits (€15.1 million), medicines and surgical materials (€8.8 million) and allocation to regional committees (€5.4 million).
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €22.9 million, a decrease of €0.1 million when compared to the previous year.
By the end of January 2026, the government’s capital spending amounted to €37.8 million - €26 million higher than the comparative period in 2025.
Higher outlay was, among others, reported towards the road construction and improvements (€8.7 million), ICT core services agreement (€6.3 million) and upgrade of AFM infrastructure and equipment (€1.5 million).
The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €151.7 million being reported in the government’s consolidated fund at the end of January 2026 - a €34 million drop in comparison to the €185.7 million deficit registered by the close of January 2025.
This difference mirrors an increase in total recurrent revenue (€97.7 million), coupled with a lower rise in total expenditure, which consists of recurrent expenditure (€37.8 million), Interest (-€0.1 million) and capital expenditure (€26 million).
At the end of January 2026, Central Government debt stood at €11,374.5 million, an increase of €811.9 million when compared to 2025.
The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€892.8 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt.
Higher debt was also reported under euro coins issued in the name of the treasury (€4.8 million).
This increase in debt was partially offset by a drop in the 62+ Malta government savings bond (€38.2 million), treasury bills (€20.4 million) and foreign loans (€2.3 million).
Moreover, higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €24.9 million.
'Spiralling debt'
In a statement later Friday, the opposition Nationalist Party said the prime minister had “started the new year exactly as he ended the previous one: borrowing more than ever before”.
Pointing to NSO figures showing the country’s debt increased by €812 million to reach €11.4 billion, the party said the “sharp level of debt” the PM “continues to burden the population with” showed he had “borrowed more than all previous prime ministers, Labour and Nationalist combined”.
The PN said that under a Labour government, “debt will continue to spiral in the coming years”. It said Malta’s national debt was equivalent to nearly €28,000 for every citizen.
The party also warned that debt interest was rising at record levels, now reaching €23 million, while also highlighting the country’s deficit.
The country has been under an ‘Excessive Deficit Procedure’, since July 2024, “despite the fact that last April the finance minister boasted Malta would exit this procedure early”.
“The government’s Fiscal Advisory Council, a group of experts appointed by the finance minister to assess his financial and economic policies, recently warned that government spending would place the country in a vulnerable position and urged the government to strengthen Malta’s public finances.”
While debt continued to rise, it was “widely recognised that nothing is being done to address the country’s most pressing problems”, the party said, pointing to issues highlighted by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report earlier this month.
“Malta is plagued by infrastructure problems resulting from a flawed economic model, including traffic congestion, unplanned population growth, and other issues”, it said.
“This is in addition to problems in school infrastructure, hospital waiting lists, and marine pollution – all of which remain unresolved.”
It said that while the government had failed to tackle the economic challenges facing the countries, the population continued to hear about “reckless spending on consultancy contracts for insiders, advertising and propaganda, and phantom jobs – including €50 million that was somehow spent by Air Malta, which has now been closed for almost two years”.
The statement was signed by shadow finance minister Adrian Delia and shadow economy minister Jeromy Caruana Cilia.