Malta last year registered a debt of €5,695 million or 43.1% of GDP, according to official data.
The 43.1% figure was roughly half the euro area average of 84.1%.
On Wednesday, the National Statistics Office said that in 2019, the government registered a surplus of €71 million, equivalent to 0.5% of the gross domestic product. Meanwhile, government debt amounted to €5,695.6 million or 43.1% of GDP.
The data shows that the government’s surplus amounted to around €71 million, a decrease of €166.1 million over the previous year.
The balance is calculated as the difference between total revenue (€5,045.3
million) and expenditure (€4,974.3 million).
When comparing 2019 with 2018, total revenue increased by €273.4 million, while total expenditure increased by €439.5 million.
When measured as a percentage of GDP, the general government balance was equivalent to a surplus of 0.5% - a decrease of 1.4 percentage points when compared to the surplus of 1.9% registered in 2018.
Adjustments made to reach positive balance of €71 million
To arrive at the general government sector’s positive balanceof €71 million for 2019, adjustments were made to the balance of the government’s consolidated fund, which registered a surplus of €9.4 million - an increase over the deficit of €70.2 million recorded in 2018.
The adjustments also take into consideration extra budgetary units (EBUs) classified within the general and local government sectors.
One major positive adjustment is the surplus recorded by EBUs - €128.7 million - a decrease of €41.3 million over 2018.
The EBU registering the highest surplus was the national development and social fund with €105 million, including 70% of the contributions under the individual investor programme.
Positive adjustments to the consolidated fund include the treasury clearance fund flows in non-financial transactions and the time-adjusted cash transactions.
On the other hand, the main negative adjustments were what is known as the "other accounts receivable and payable" (€49.1 million) and adjustments related to rerouted transactions and public-private partnership agreements (€44.9 million).
Infographic: NSOEuro area and EU27 government deficit at 0.6% of GDP
In 2019, the government deficit of both the euro and the EU27 areas increased in relative terms compared to 2018, while government debt declined in both zones.
In the euro area, the government deficit to GDP ratio rose from 0.5% to 0.6% in 2019, and in the EU27 from 0.4% to 0.6%.
In the euro area, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased from 85.8% at the end of 2018 to 84.1% at the end of 2019, and in the EU27 from 79.6% to 77.8%.
The Eurostat figures are for 2019 and, therefore, do not take into account the widespread economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts at Moody's said last week they expect Malta's debt-to-GDP ration to edge up past 50% this year, as the government borrows money to keep the economy afloat.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, acknowledged that its government deficit and debt data for the years 2016 to 2019 was based on figures reported by EU states in the first notification in 2020, for the application of the excessive deficit procedure.
In 2019, Denmark (+3.7%), Luxembourg (+2.2%), Bulgaria (+2.1%), Cyprus and the Netherlands (both +1.7%), Greece (+1.5%), Germany (+1.4%), Austria (+0.7%), Malta, Slovenia and Sweden (all +0.5%), Ireland and Croatia (both +0.4%), Czechia and Lithuania (both +0.3%), and Portugal (+0.2%) registered a government surplus.
Two states had deficits equal to or higher than 3% of GDP: France (-3%) and Romania (-4.3%).
At the end of 2019, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (8.4%), Bulgaria (20.4%), Luxembourg (22.1%), Czechia (30.8%) and Denmark (33.2%).
In 2019, government expenditure in the euro area was equivalent to 47.1% of GDP and government revenue to 46.5%. The figures for the EU27 were 46.7% and 46.2%, respectively.
In both zones, the government expenditure ratio increased between 2018 and 2019, while the government revenue ratio remained stable.
Malta government accounts for fourth quarter of 2019
The government recorded a surplus of €17.5 million in the last quarter of 2019.
Between October and December, the total revenue stood at €1,384.4 million - an increase of €52.3 million when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018, according to the NSO.
Increases in revenue were registered in the current taxes on income and wealth sector (€68.3 million), market output (€31.5 million) and net social contributions (€6 million).
These were partially outweighed by decreases in capital transfers receivable (€28.4 million), property income receivable (€13.1 million), current transfers receivable (€7.8 million) and taxes on production and imports (€4.2 million).
Total expenditure in the fourth quarter amounted to €1,366.9 million - an increase of €52 million over the same quarter of 2018. Increases in expenditure were recorded in intermediate consumption (€41.7 million), compensation of employees (€34.4 million), gross capital formation (€30.6 million), as well as social benefits and social transfers in kind (€13.3 million).
When compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018, current transfers payable and capital transfers payable both registered a decrease of €47.7 million and €19.6 million respectively.