Deficit falls to 1.5% in 2015 as debt reaches 63.9% of GDP

UPDATED 13:44 Finance Ministry hails economic results

Malta’s government deficit fell by half a percentage point to reach 1.5 per cent of GDP last year, new figures released by the National Statistics Office have shown.

The deficit fell by €34.4 million to reach €129 million by the end of 2015.

Government debt rose by €198.8 million from 2014 but declined as a percentage of GDP. While in 2014 Malta’s debt stood at 67.1 per cent of GDP, by the end of last year that figure had declined to 63.9 per cent. By the end of 2015, nominal gross consolidated debt amounted to €5,620.7 million.

In a reaction to the data, the Finance Ministry recalled that the deficit stood at 3.5 per cent in 2012 - above the Maastricht criteria set by the EU. 

"The data shows that over the last three years the Government managed to reduce the value of the deficit by almost half as the deficit fell to €129 million in 2015, from €256 million in 2012," a ministry statement noted. 

To arrive at the government sector’s deficit for 2015, adjustments weremade to the balance of its consolidated fund, which amounted to a deficitof €232.8 million. Among the major positive adjustments were other accounts receivable and...