Tag: government expenditure
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Government’s negative trend on finances remains confirmed as expenditure growth exceeds revenue
The government’s negative trend in public finances remained confirmed during the first half of 2026, with expenditure increasing by €687.1 million compared with a €681 million increase in recurrent revenue, according to the latest NSO statistics. The government’s Consolidated Fund registered a deficit of €463.5 million between January and June 2026. This was €6.1 million…
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Social security expenditure rises by €88.3 million as pensions continue to drive government spending
Government expenditure on social security benefits reached €946.1 million in the first half of 2026, an increase of €88.3 million, or 10.3%, over the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office. Contributory benefits rose by €63.4 million to €732.1 million, largely because retirement-pension expenditure increased by €42.2 million. Spending on the Two-Thirds…
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Provisional government deficit for Q1 2026 at 3.6%: higher than last year and previous quarter
Provisional Eurostat figures show that Malta’s seasonally adjusted general government deficit stood at 3.6% of GDP in the first quarter of 2026, increasingly sharply from 0.1% in the same quarter of the previous year and 3.1% in the preceding quarter. The average seasonally adjusted general government deficit-to-GDP ratio stood at 3.1% in both the euro…
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EU Commission recommends to remove Malta out of Excessive Fiscal Deficit Procedure
The EU Commission has today recommended to remove Malta out of the the Excessive Fiscal Deficit Procedure. The EU Commission document says that: “The government debt-to-GDP ratio increased from 45.9% at the end of 2024 to 46.4% of GDP at the end of 2025, thus remaining below the 60% of GDP reference value. The Commission…
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Finance Minister Clyde Caruana is already being challenged over his estimates
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana is already being challenged over his fiscal estimates, and his estimated expenditure is so grossly inflated that it is already a very strong point of contention against a Labour government. If potentially re-elected as Finance Minister, Clyde Caruana is going to spend the rest of his tenure defending a massively large…
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At least €60 million in additional fuel and electricity subsidies so far
The Maltese government has already spent up to €60 million in additional fuel and electricity subsidies to tamp down fuel and electricity prices which have risen as a result of the war in Iran. This will push the overall bill for the fuel and electricity subsidies for this year way above the €200 million mark.…
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Is the Finance Minister hitting his estimates?
The latest figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) for the fourth quarter of 2025 paint a mixed picture of Malta’s public finances, raising questions about whether Finance Minister Clyde Caruana is truly on track with his fiscal targets. According to the NSO’s quarterly accounts, Malta’s general government deficit for 2025 stood at €545.3…
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Clarifying the comments about the deficit made by the Minister for Finance on government expenditure
Earlier this week the Minister for Finances Clyde Caruana criticised the Opposition and media outlets which had raised the alarm over the European Commission’s position over Malta’s budget and its excessive-deficit procedure. The Minister said that the government is reducing the deficit and that there are no issue with the EU Commission. This is only…
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Deficit set to come higher for 2025
According to the recent statistics released by the NSO, the government’s deficit in real terms in 2025 is set to increase with the government failing to keep up tax revenues with government expenditure. The Finance Minister plans to close the deficit with recurrent expenditure this year. Government’s deficit for 2024 was up to 3.5% of…
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Latest government finances bulletin confirms momentum in tax collection slowing down
The latest statistics by the Ministry of Finance as released by the NSO about the government’s finances confirm that the momentum in tax collection has continued to slow down in the third quarter of this year, after slowing down in the second quarter. Recurrent revenue rose by €169.6 million to €5.664 billion just 3.08% compared…
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GDP in the second quarter keeps growing buoyed by government expenditure: public expenditure keeps increasing in July
According to a new revised system in calculating the GDP, the NSO has stated that Malta saw a real GDP growth of 2.7% in the second quarter of this year, with a nominal GDP of 5.1%. The total nominal GDP amounted to €6.1 billion, registering an increase of €295.8 million when compared to the same…
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Expenditure on social security increases by up to 10.5% in the first half of the year
The government’s expenditure on social contributions have increased by up to 10.5% compared to January-June of last year contributing to a higher government expenditure this year, according to the latest NSO statistics. The highest increase in social expenditure was noted in the standard two-thirds pension scheme with an increase of up to €45.1 million. Up…
