- The Exchequer was broadly balanced in 2015, with a deficit of €62 million recorded
- The underlying Exchequer position is showing a year-on-year improvement of c. €5.2 billion on the back of increased tax and non-tax revenue and reduced debt servicing costs
- €45,601 million in tax revenue was collected in 2015, an increase of €4,319 million (10.5%) on 2014
The Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform today (05th of January) released the end 2015 Exchequer Statement. Commenting on the strong performance of tax revenues, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D. stated:
“Overall, an Exchequer deficit of €62 million was recorded at end-December 2015. This is a massive improvement from a deficit of €8.1 billion for 2014 which was buoyed by a return from some of our investments in the banking sector. When once-off factors are accounted for, we have an underlying Exchequer deficit in 2015 of around €3.4 billion compared to an underlying deficit of about €8.6 billion in 2014. In terms of performance against profile, while corporation tax accounts for the bulk of the increase, it is encouraging that there were also strong performances from income tax and VAT. This is further evidence of the economic recovery we have witnessed in 2015.
The next step in our recovery is to put in place our medium term strategy which will spread the recovery to all sectors of the economy and all regions throughout the country. We are determined to avoid the boom and bust cycles of the past”.
Commenting on the Exchequer Returns Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform Brendan Howlin T.D. stated:
“We have spent €54.7 billion to deliver public services and invest in our infrastructure during 2015. Against a background of strong growth in tax revenue we were in a position to make additional funding available by way of Supplementary Estimate to support key services, social supports and increased capital investment. This has facilitated the allocation of additional resources to key areas experiencing increased demand, the implementation of new policy measures such as the delayed discharges initiative in the Health sector and the payment of a Social Welfare Christmas bonus. Additional funding was also provided towards capital investment for public transport, school improvements and to support the regional jobs strategy.
Including the additional expenditure provided by way of Supplementary Estimates, expenditure for the year has come in below the revised forecast for 2015 set out on Budget day last October. The expected end 2015 deficit will be close to 1.5% of GDP”.
For a full list of the supporting documents go to the Department of Finance website here.