Malta ended 2022 with a deficit of €900.3 million and a debt of €8,829.9 million, official figures issued on Thursday show.
The National Statistics Office said that between January and December 2022, recurrent revenue amounted to €5,845.2 million, eight per cent higher than the €5,413.2 million reported a year earlier.
The largest increase was recorded under Value Added Tax (€261.2 million), followed by social security (€106 million), Income Tax (€49.1 million), grants (€25.0 million), licences, taxes and fines (€14.9 million), fees of office (€10.9 million), reimbursements (€5.7 million) and interests on loans made by government (€0.2 million).
The rise in revenue was partially offset by decreases from Customs and Excise Duties (€15.7 million), miscellaneous receipts (€13.7 million), Central Bank of Malta (€10.9 million), dividends on investment (€0.4 million) and rents (€0.4 million).
Expenditure up by €99.8m
By the end of December 2022, total expenditure stood at €6,745.5 million, €99.8 million higher than the previous year. Recurrent expenditure totalled €5,832.5 million, an increase of €117.8 million compared to the €5,714.7 million reported in 2021.
The main contributor to this increase was a €107.8 million rise reported under contributions to government entities. Higher contributions were, among others, made towards Resource Support and Services Ltd (€66.2 million), running expenses of the parliamentary services (€10.6 million), Malta Tourism Authority (€7.6 million) and University of Malta (€4.2 million).
An increase was also seen under personal emoluments (€34.5 million).
This rise in expenditure outweighed lower outlay reported under operational and maintenance expenses (€18.1 million) and programmes and initiatives (€6.3 million). The main development in the programmes and initiatives category was a €260.3 million decrease under the pandemic assistance schemes.
On the other hand, additional outlays went towards social security benefits (€81.1 million), energy support measures (€53.4 million), economic stimulus payments (€51.3 million), Covid-19 supplies (€40.4 million) and carbon credits (€40 million).
Debt servicing eases, but still cost €173.6 million last year
The interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €173.6 million, a decrease of €10.7 million when compared to the previous year.
By the end of December 2022, government’s capital spending amounted to €739.3 million, €7.4 million lower than 2021. This decrease resulted from lower expenditure towards road construction and improvements (€37.2 million), Property, plant and equipment (€10.8 million), Gozo Aquatic Centre (€8.0 million) and Wasteserv Malta Ltd (€6.2 million).
The drop in capital outlay was partially offset by a €54 million increase witnessed under National airline restructuring assistance, the NSO said.
Deficit narrows by €332.2 million
The difference between total revenue and expenditure resulted in a deficit of €900.3 million being reported in the Government’s Consolidated Fund at the end of December 2022.
Compared to the same period in 2021, there was a narrowing of the deficit of €332.2 million. This difference, the NSO said, mirrored an increase in total recurrent revenue (€432 million), partly offset by a rise in total expenditure, which consisted of recurrent expenditure (€117.8 million), interest (-€10.7 million) and capital expenditure (-€7.4 million).
Debt rises
At the end of December 2022, Central Government debt stood at €8,829.9 million, an increase of €732.5 million from 2021. The increase reported under Malta Government Stocks (€669.4 million) was the main contributor to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under Treasury Bills (€247.3 million) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€5.3 million).
This increase in debt was partially offset by a decrease in the 62+ Malta Government Savings Bond (€99.8 million), higher holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks (€89.6 million) and less foreign loans (€0.1 million).