Iċ-ċifri dwar il-finanzi tal-Gvern li ġew ippubblikati llum mill-Uffiċċju Nazzjonali tal-Istatistika (l-NSO) jikkonfermaw il-progress regolari li qed isir biex il-finanzi tal-pajjiż jitpoġġew fuq bażi soda.
STQARRIJA MILL-MINISTERU GĦALL-FINANZI
Il-Ministru għall-Finanzi, il-Prof. Edward Scicluna, irrimarka li “wara t-tneħħija uffiċjali mill-Kunsill tal-UE tal-Proċedura tad-Defiċit Eċċessiv fil-konfront ta’ Malta l-ġimgħa l-oħra, iċ-ċifri ppubblikati llum ikomplu jikkonfermaw id-determinazzjoni ta’ dan il-Gvern li jibqa’ għaddej bil-miri li ppjana sabiex naslu għal sostenibbiltà fiskali.”
Iċ-ċifri għall-ewwel ħames xhur tas-sena juru li d-defiċit fil-fond konsolidat niżel b’€120 miljun. Dan seħħ wara żieda qawwija ta’ €185 miljun fl-introjtu rikorrenti, li tixhed it-tkabbir robust li qed iseħħ fl-ekonomija. Fil-fatt, minkejja li r-rati tat-taxxa fuq l-introjtu naqsu, minn din it-taxxa daħlu €25 miljun aktar filwaqt li l-introjtu mill-VAT żdied bi kważi €18-il miljun. Mill-banda l-oħra, in-nefqa rikorrenti fuq il-benefiċċji soċjali naqset b’€6 miljun, u dan jirrifletti r-riżultati tajbin ħafna li kien hemm fis-suq tax-xogħol, kif ukoll id-diversi miżuri li daħħal il-Gvern biex iħajjar lin-nies joħorġu jaħdmu u jiskoraġġixxi d-dipendenza.
Iċ-ċifri juru wkoll li n-nefqa fuq l-edukazzjoni żdiedet b’aktar minn €6 miljun filwaqt li n-nefqa kapitali laħqet il-€178 miljun fl-ewwel ħames xhur tas-sena – żieda ta’ €29 miljun fuq il-perjodu korrispondenti tal-2014. Din hija konferma oħra tal-impenn qawwi tal-Gvern li jibqa’ jinvesti fil-kapital uman u fl-infrastruttura fiżika sabiex itejjeb il-kapaċità produttiva tal-ekonomija tagħna.
Public finances continue their steady progress
Government Finance Data issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) today confirms the steady progress being made to put public finances on a solid footing.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY FOR FINANCE
Minister for Finance, Prof. Edward Scicluna, remarked: “Following the official lifting of the Excessive Deficit Procedure by the Ecofin last week, today’s data further confirms this Government’s determination to continue with its planned targets of fiscal sustainability”.
Data for the first five months of the year shows that the deficit in the consolidated fund declined by €120 million. This was on the back of a strong increase of €185 million in recurrent revenue, reflecting the robust growth in the economy. In fact, despite the lower income tax rates, revenue from income tax increased by €25 million while income from VAT increased by almost €18 million. On the other hand, recurrent expenditure on social benefits declined by €6 million, reflecting the robust performance in the labour market as well as the various measures introduced by the Government to incentivise work and discourage dependency.
Data also shows that expenditure on education increased by over €6 million while capital expenditure reached €178 million during the first five months of the year, an increase of €29 million over the corresponding period of 2014. This is a further confirmation of the strong commitment by this Government to continue investing in the human capital and physical infrastructure in order to enhance the productive capacity of our economy.
– Friday, 26th June, 2015
