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3 NEWS 31.3.2022 BY the end of 2021, the Gov- ernment's Consolidated Fund reported a deficit of €1,242.2 million. In 2021, Recurrent Revenue amounted to €5,394.5 million, 22.9 per cent higher than the €4,389.3 million reported a year earlier. e largest increase was re- corded under Income Tax (€554.1 million), followed by Value Added Tax (€202.4 mil- lion), Social Security (€136.0 million), Grants (€49.7 mil- lion), Customs and Excise Duties (€35.9 million), Divi- dends on Investments (€29.2 million), Licences, Taxes and Fines (€25.7 million), Reim- bursements (€6.6 million) and Central Bank of Malta (€1.5 million). e rise in revenue was par- tially offset by decreases under Fees of Office (€23.9 million), Miscellaneous Receipts (€8.6 million) and Rents (€3.6 mil- lion). By the end of 2021, total ex- penditure stood at €6,636.8 million, 13.3 per cent higher than the previous year. During the reference peri- od, Recurrent Expenditure totalled €5,718.1 million, a rise of €1,079.2 million in comparison to the €4,638.9 million reported in 2020. e main contributor to this in- crease was a €883.5 million rise reported under Programmes and Initiatives. Furthermore, increases were also witnessed under Personal Emoluments (€115.8 million), Contributions to Government Entities (€67.2 million) and Operational and Maintenance Expenses (€12.7 million). e largest development in the Programmes and Initiatives category was related to the Pandemic assistance scheme (€378.1 million), which in- cludes the COVID-19 Business Assistance Programme. Other increases under Pro- grammes and Initiatives were reported under Energy support measures (€180.0 million), EU own resources (€98.2 mil- lion), Hospital concession agreements (€38.5 million), Social security benefits (€37.8 million), St Vincent de Paul Residence service contract (€20.0 million), Waiting lists for medical services (outsourc- ing) (€13.8 million), Church schools (€10.7 million), Resi- dential care in private homes (€9.3 million), Extension of school transport network (€7.8 million), Interest rate subsidy scheme (€7.2 million), Alloca- tion in respect of local councils (€6.0 million), Chief medical officer medicines (€6.0 mil- lion), Tax relief measures (€5.8 million), Grant for electric ve- hicles (€5.5 million) and Child care for all (€4.8 million). e interest component of the public debt servicing costs totalled €183.8 million, an in- crease of €2.6 million when compared to the previous year. By the end of December 2021, Government's capital spending amounted to €734.9 million, €302.3 million lower than 2020. e drop largely resulted from the reclassification of the COVID-19 Business As- sistance Programme (€384.2 million), which featured under Capital Expenditure between March and December 2020 but is now classified under Recur- rent Expenditure. is decline outweighed an increase of €81.9 million re- ported in other capital pro- jects. e difference between total revenue and expenditure re- sulted in a deficit of €1,242.2 million being reported in the Government's Consolidated Fund at the end of 2021. Com- pared to the same period in 2020, there was a decrease in deficit of €225.7 million. is difference mirrors an in- crease in total Recurrent Reve- nue (€1,005.2 million), partially offset by a rise in total expend- iture, consisting of Recurrent Expenditure (€1,079.2 million), Interest (€2.6 million) and Capital Expenditure (-€302.3 million). Changes in expendi- ture and revenue reflect devel- opments related to COVID-19. At the end of 2021, Central Government debt stood at €8,097.4 million, a €1,332.2 million rise from 2020. In- creases reported under Malta Government Stocks (€995.0 million) and Foreign Loans (€299.9 million) were the main contributors to the rise in debt. Higher debt was also reported under the 62+ Malta Govern- ment Savings Bond (€94.4 mil- lion) and Euro coins issued in the name of the Treasury (€3.1 million). is increase in debt was par- tially offset by a decrease in Treasury Bills (€44.6 million). Finally, lower holdings by government funds in Malta Government Stocks resulted in a decrease in debt of €15.6 million. Government's Consolidated Fund reported €1.24 billion deficit in 2021 FROM PAGE 1 When quizzed over the electoral pledges made in the last four weeks that translated into financial contri- butions or fiscal measures, Caruana defended the feasibility of his party's political manifesto. "We have a vibrant economy which is promising more returns and this supports many of the predictions we have made," he said. "We will implement our promises, there is no issue about this." Caruana was confirmed in his post yesterday when Prime Minister Rob- ert Abela announced his new Cabinet following the Labour Party's victory in Saturday's general election. He was elected in two districts - the second and eighth districts. Previous- ly he served as Abela's chief of staff, before being co-opted to Parliament in 2021 and appointed finance minis- ter. Asked whether he was concerned about the numerous Bond issues in the local market, Caruana said that in the absence of advantageous credit fa- cilities, investment companies would always seek other methods of credit. On local banks, he repeated the claim that Maltese banks were too conserva- tive when it came to issuing credit. "As government, we have addressed the issue of opening current account facilities, but if the banks have no ap- petite for offering credit for certain products, that is their prerogative," Caruana said. "The market will obviously then re- spond to these new realities." Finance Minister defends feasibility of Labour Party's election manifesto A lack of credible local investment opportunities has seen the launch of numerous bond issues over the past couple of years

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