Maltese Government Registers €250 Million Surplus For 2018 Despite €490 Million Expenses Increase
Despite dropping by €136 million from the previous year, the Maltese government has still registered a surplus of €250 million for 2018.
Eurostat figures also show that only Luxembourg recorded a larger surplus relative to GDP than Malta (2%) in the entire EU. This, however, was still a decrease of 1.4 percentage points when compared with 2017.
Figures do show that, by the end of 2018, revenue had grown by roughly €353 million, however, total expenditure also increased, by a significant €490 million. Current totals stand at €4,783 million and €4,532 million respectively (that’s over €4.5 billion).
Notably, the gross consolidated debt decreased by €17 million. Now standing at €5,665 million, the debt-to-GDP ratio is at 46%.
It should be noted that the Government’s Consolidated Fund actually registered a deficit of €70 million – a decrease over the surplus of €182 million recorded in 2017.
Speaking on Twitter, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the continuing surpluses showed that, under his leadership, the country has gone from “unsustainability to sustainability”.
#Malta has registered its third annual fiscal #surplus in a row. At 2%, this is second highest recorded in EU for 2018. Debt is now down to a very sustainable 46% of GDP. This is how far we have come together. From deficit to surplus, from unsustainability to sustainability -JM
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) 23 April 2019
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