Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna welcomes the latest Government Finance Data, published by the National Statistics Office (NSO), which shows during the month of July this year, the government recorded a surplus of €25 million in the Consolidated Fund. The surplus reflected an increase of €28 million in total revenue while total expenditure decreased by €10 million over July of last year.

PRESS RELEASE BY THE MINISTRY FOR FINANCE

“We have been able to start the second half of this year with a monthly surplus. This augurs well for reaching the fiscal target for this year”, stated Minister Edward Scicluna.

 

 

During the first seven months of this year, tax revenue continued to be robust, increasing by €181 million. The significant increase in tax revenues continued to reflect the buoyant growth recorded in employment coupled with a record low unemployment rate as well as the consistent increases in private consumption. Indeed, despite a significant decline in revenue from EU grants of €65 million from the peak in revenue recorded in 2017, total recurrent revenue still increased by €98 million.

 

 

Expenditure on public investment projects increased by €23 million for the first seven months of this year. Similarly, recurrent expenditure also increased however, the increase was in line with MFIN projections for the period between January and July of 2018.

The Ministry for Finance is also pleased to note the consistent reductions in national debt in absolute terms. Indeed, the debt decreased by €193 million year-on-year by the end of July of this year.

        

Friday 31st August 2018