Malta gov't reports deficit of about 70 mln euros in 2018

VALLETTA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Malta government's Consolidated Fund on Friday reported a deficit of 70.2 million euros (78.8 million U.S. dollars) in 2018, compared to a surplus of 182.7 million euros registered in 2017.

According to figures released by the National Statistics Office(NSO) on Friday,the total expenditure of the government amounted to 4,630 million euros in 2018, a 12.7 percent increase from 2017.

Between January and December 2018, Malta's recurrent expenditure stood at 3,821.4 million euros, an increase of 278.2 million euros in comparison to the 3,543.3 million euros spent in 2017.

According to the government, The main contributor was a 114.7 million euro-rise reported under programmes and initiatives. Higher expenditure was also recorded on contributions to government entities and personal emolument.

Malta's recurrent revenue totaled 4,559.8 million euros in 2018, 6.3 percent higher than the 4,291.2 million euros registered in 2017. The increase was primarily the result of a 106.8 million euros rise in value added tax, followed by a 92.8 million euros increase reported under social security.

The opposition party called on the Finance Ministry to explain how it was going to solve the serious shortfall in government finances.

Reacting to the financial results, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said that government invested more money in capital projects last year.

He explained that if the government kept capital expenditure to the same level as that of 2017, the consolidated fund would have registered an even higher surplus of 185 million euros in 2018. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars) Enditem