The State had a budget surplus of €2.7 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2022, which was up from a deficit of the same amount a year earlier, data from the Central Statistics Office shows.
The State generated revenue of €28.5 billion, which was €4.6 billion (19.3 per cent) more than the €23.9 billion a year earlier. Taxes and social contributions made up 94 per cent of general government revenue which amounted to €26.7 billion in the quarter, an increase of €4.7 billion on the third quarter of 2021.
Taxes on income, profits and capital gains increased by €3.5 billion, mainly due to increased receipts from corporation tax, while social contributions, mainly PRSI receipts, increased by €500 million.
On the expenditure side of the account, at €25.8 billion, the quarter was €800 million lower than the level of expenditure in a year earlier, which was €25.6 billion.
There was a large reduction in expenditure on subsidies, which decreased by €1.3 billion, mainly due to the closure of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme. Subsidies are now in line with pre-pandemic levels.
Compensation of employees at just over €6.9 billion was marginally higher than the same quarter a year before when it was just under €6.9 billion.
Direct spending on Covid-19 measures amounted to approximately €500 million this quarter. The main element of this expenditure was Covid-19 related health expenditure of €400 million.
Gross general government debt decreased by €461 million in the quarter to €236.1 billion. This was accounted for almost entirely by the movement in debt securities (€1.6 billion redemption of short term and €900 million issuance of long term).
The general government gross debt to GDP ratio was 49 per cent at the end of the quarter, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from the end of the second quarter.
With nominal debt only falling slightly, this reduction was driven almost entirely by the increase in GDP. Over that same time frame, the general government net debt to GDP ratio moved from 41.1 per cent to 38.9 per cent.
