The preliminary General Government fiscal results for the period of January-November 2019, which are prepared by the Statistical Service of Cyprus (CYSTAT), indicate a surplus of €1,041.2 mn or 4.8% of GDP as compared to a deficit of €699,1 mln for the corresponding period of 2018 (-3.3% of GDP).
According to the figures released Tuesday, the total expenditure for the first eleven months of 2019 reached €7,279.3 mln, which corresponds to a decrease of €644.1 mln or 8.1%, as compared to the corresponding period of 2018 (€7,923.4 mln in January-November 2018).
Social benefits recorded an increase of €553.6 mln or 23.5%) to reach €2,908.9 mln in January-November 2019 as compared to €2,355.3 mln in January-November 2018.
The figures by CyStat show that the compensation of employees (including imputed social contributions and pensions of civil servants) recorded an increase of €232.5 mn or 11.2% and reached €2,306.6 mn in January-November 2019, as compared to €2,074.1 mln in January-November 2018.
Intermediate consumption increased by €121.3 mln or 18.6% and reached €774.3 mln for the first eleven months of 2019 as compared to €653.0 mln in the corresponding period of 2018.
CyStat figures show that current transfers recorded an increased expenditure by €65.2 mln or 16,3% and reached €464.9 mln in comparison to €399.7 mln in the corresponding period of the previous year, while payable interest increased by €49.1 mln or 11.4% during the period of January-November 2019 and reached €480.5 mln. The corresponding amount for the same period of 2018 was €431.4 mln.
Investment was confined to €238.7 mln, a reduction of €812.3 mln or 77.3% during the first eleven months of 2019, and capital transfers were limited to €65.6 mln, a reduction of €846.2 mln or 92,8% during the same period. The corresponding expenditure recorded in 2018 were €1, 051.0 mln and €911.8 mln respectively.
Subsidies decreased by €7.3 mln or 15,5% to reach €39.8 mln during the first eleven months of 2019 as compared to €47.1 mn during the corresponding period of last year.
Total revenue increased by €1,096.2 mln or 15.2% to reach €8,320.5 mln during the period of January-November 2019, as compared to €7,224.3 mln during the corresponding period of 2018.
Social contributions collected by the State during this period increased significantly, by €556.6 mln or 33.6%, to total €2,213.1 mln, as compared to €1,656.5 mln in the corresponding period of 2018.
Revenue from taxes on income and wealth also increased significantly (by €112.9 mln, that is +7.3%) and reached €1,663.6 mln during the period of January-November 2019, as opposed to €1,550.7 mln during the corresponding period of 2018. Capital transfers received by the State reached €159.2 mln, an increase of €63.7 mln, which corresponds to 66.7%, as opposed to the €95.5 mn received during the corresponding period of 2018.
Revenue received from taxes on production and imports recorded an increase of €68.2 mln or 2,2% to reach €3,134.2 mln, as compared to €3,066.0 mn received during the corresponding period of 2018. However, net VAT revenue (that is included in this category) registered an increase of €95.3 mln or 4.9% and reached €2,035.2 mln in 2019, as compared to €1,939.9 mln in 2018.
Property income recorded a €58.0 mln increase or 74.8% to reach €135.5 mn during the period of January-November 2019, as compared to €77.5 mln in January-November 2018.
Revenue from the sale of goods and services recorded an increase of €236.0 mln or 40.0% and reached €826.4 mln as compared to €590.4 mln during the first eleven months of 2018.
A small increase was also recorded by current transfers, that were increased by €0.8 mln (0.4%) to reach €188.5 mln during the period of January-November 2019 as compared to €187.7 mln in the corresponding period of 2018.
(Cyprus News Agency)
