2018 surplus boosted by €133.7 million from citizenship scheme
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The general government made a surplus of €250.8 million in 2018, a considerable shift from the €70.2 million deficit registered in the so-called government’s ‘consolidated fund’. The National Statistics Office explained that the former figure – us2018 surplus boosted by €133.7 million from citizenship scheme
The general government made a surplus of €250.8 million in 2018, a considerable shift from the €70.2 million deficit registered in the so-called government’s ‘consolidated fund’. The National Statistics Office explained that the former figure – used for reporting under the Maastricht Treaty criteria – comes from taking the finances on an accruals-basis (rather than cash), and includes various ‘extra-budgetary units’ (EBU) – most significantly income from the citizenship scheme. Most of the surplus came from the EBUs, which reached €176.8 million, €21.1 million less than a year earlier. The NSO did not breakdown the contributions of each of the various EBUs, which range from the national orchestra to Heritage Malta. It did specify, however, that the National Development and Social Fund – which gets 70% of the contributions from the Individual Investor Programme – was responsible for €133.7 million. There are other contributors to the gap between the consolidated fund’s deficit and the surplus registered by the general government, made up of €208 million from various categories, with €62.5 million subtracted due to Air Malta subsidies. The Maastricht Treaty reporting for 2017 had... Read more