Government deficit grows despite increase in revenue

Ireland’s General Government Deficit (GGDeficit) amounted to €5.387bn in the first quarter of 2013 or 13.8% of quarterly GDP, according to figures released today.

This represents an increase of almost €360m compared to the first quarter of 2012, according to today's report by the Central Statistics Office.

Government revenue for the period at €12.821bn, which was €973m higher than the Q1 2012 revenue of €11.848bn.

This was mainly due to increased revenue from taxes and social contributions.

However expenditure in this quarter amounted to €18.128bn, an increase of €1.299bn on the Q1 2012 levels of €16.829bn.

This was due to payments under the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee Scheme related to the liquidation of IBRC and interest expenditure.

Ireland’s General Government Gross Debt (GGDebt) stood at €204.1bn or 125.1% of annualised GDP at the end of Q1 2013, an increase of €11.6bn since the previous quarter when GGDebt amounted to €192.5bn representing 117.4% of GDP.

General Government Net Debt for the corresponding period amounted to €154.9bn or 95% of GDP.

This net debt figure is obtained by deducting the value of the financial assets corresponding to those categories of financial liabilities which comprise GGDebt from the gross debt figure.

Net Worth (non-financial assets plus financial assets less liabilities) of General Government continued its recent decline in Q1 2013, falling to -€81.1bn from -€77.2bn at the end of the previous quarter.