Treasury reports K61.9bn deficit
Government’s budgetary operations recorded a K61.9 billion deficit in February as expenditures outweighed revenue, latest figures have shown.
In January, budget deficit stood at K14.7 billion.
Published Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) figures on Thursday indicated that Treasury raised K89.4 billion revenue in February while expenditure stood at K151.3 billion total expenditure.
At K89.4 billion, February revenue declined by 19.1 percent from January’s K110.4 billion collection.
Reads the February Monthly Economic Review report in part: “The registered decrease in total revenue stemmed from domestic revenues which declined by 29.8 percent to K73.5 billion while foreign receipts registered a growth of 173.1 percent to K15.9 billion.”
The decline in domestic revenues was mainly on account of below-par performance of tax revenues that fell by 32.4 percent to K68.8 billion.
Total expenditures, on the other hand, increased by 20.9 percent to K151.3 billion from K125.2 billion in the previous month on account of both recurrent and development expenditures.
The 2019/2020 Budget is pegged at K1.84 trillion in which total revenue and grants are projected at K1.575 trillion, representing 25.1 percent of gross domestic product.
The budget projected domestic revenues at K1.35 trillion, comprising K1.369 trillion as tax revenue and K55.8 billion non-tax revenue.
But in an earlier interview with Business News, former Treasury spokesperson Davis Sado admitted that the budget would be compromised in view of less than expected revenues amid the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Public tax collector Malawi Revenue Authority commissioner general Tom Gray Malata also indicated earlier that revenue collection in the first quarter has faced challenges in some tax lines due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
