November government debt up 18.5 per cent

Provisional statistics supplied by the Central Bank of Malta Friday show end of November government debt standing at Lm1,242.2 million – a year on year increase of 18.5 per cent.
Treasury Bills and Malta Government stock accounted for Lm255.2 million or 20.5 per cent of government’s debt, and Lm913 million or 73.5 per cent respectively. The remaining share of Lm73.9 million or six per cent was made up of foreign borrowing.
Compared to October, government debt had increased by Lm31.2 million.
Recurrent revenue during the first eleven months totalled Lm620.8 million, and made up 80.6 per cent of this year’s budget forecast. Compared to the same period last year, recurrent revenue increased by Lm7.6 million, or 1.2 per cent. At the same time, total expenditure amounted Lm768.6 million, an increase of Lm39.3 million, or 5.4 per cent, over the Lm729.3 million expended in the same period in 2002. Government marginally increased the relative level of expenditure when comparing the 2002 figure with that year’s final outturn (89 per cent), and the 2003 amount with this year’s budget estimate (89.6 per cent).
the shortfall, or structural deficit, between recurrent revenue and total expenditure during the year amounted to Lm141.7 million, an increase of Lm32 million from a shortfall of Lm109.6 million for the same period last year.
Fees collected through the 2003 Investment Registration Scheme amounted to Lm2 million as against the corresponding figure of Lm6.1 million collected in respect of the last year’s Investment Registration Scheme. The following increases for the first eleven months of the year were registered: Income Tax (+Lm8.4 million), Social Security Contributions (+Lm4.8 million), Consumption Tax (+Lm3.4 million), Miscellaneous Receipts (+Lm3.0 million), Customs and Excise Duties (+Lm2.6 million), Rents (+Lm1.1 million) and Grants (+Lm0.9 million). Meanwhile, revenue reductions were recorded from Central Bank of Malta (-Lm0.9 million) and Reimbursements (-Lm1.4 million).Last year, one-off revenue was received from the part-privatisation of the Malta International Airport (Lm21.0 million).
During the first eleven months of 2003, recurrent expenditure excluding Public Debt Servicing, amounted to Lm605.7 million, from Lm580.9 million expended last year: an increase of Lm24.9 million, or 4.3 per cent. Recurrent expenditure for the period under review made up 89.4 per cent of this year’s budgetary estimates, down from 89.9 per cent of the actual final outturn for last year.