The covid-19 pandemic cost the state 1,820.5 million euros (ME) until May, according to figures released today, which point to a drop of 868.7 ME in revenue and an increase of 951.8 ME in expenditure.
“Until May, the implementation of measures adopted in the context of combating and preventing covid-19, as well as those aimed at restoring normality, led to a reduction in revenue of 868.7 million euros and an increase in expense of 951.8 million euros ”, can be read in the Summary of Budget Execution released today by the Directorate-General for Budget (DGO).
Up to April, the figures that had been accounted for by DGO pointed to an impact of 680.2 million euros in the accounts of General Government, of which 319.9 million euros corresponded to the reduction in revenue and 360.3 million euros due to the increased spending.
“On the revenue side, it appears that the tax payment extensions, payable from the 2nd semester, for a period of up to six months, total 625.2 million euros for VAT and 141.9 million euros for withholding taxes on IRS and IRC, and the impact of the suspension of tax foreclosures on tax revenue is estimated to amount to 101.6 million euros, according to data from the DGO.
As for expenses, “lay-off” was the measure with the greatest impact (452.9 million euros), followed by health-related expenses (180.4 million euros), namely Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medicines ”
“Expenditure on extraordinary support for the reduction of economic activity amounted to 67.9 million euros”, adds DGO in a section of the Budget Execution Summary exclusively dedicated to the impact of covid-19 on national public accounts.
In the tables where the measures are broken down, on the revenue side there is still no accounting for the Extension of Social Security Contributions or for the Suspension of tax foreclosures of Social Security contributions.
In expenditure, in addition to the measures already mentioned, the item “Fans and Other SNS” was recorded at 45.2 million euros, followed by exceptional support for the family, which cost 38.9 million euros, and prophylactic isolation , which was accounted for at 22.3 million euros.
Below 20 million euros, other services associated with Personal Protective Equipment cost 17.8 million euros, the reinforcement of human resources (hiring and overtime) cost 16.6 million euros, the extension of unemployment cost 14.9 million euros, and both employment support (including lay-off supplements) and support to companies, within the scope of the Adapt program, each cost 10.2 million euros.
Below 10 million euros, the State spent 7.1 million euros in support of teleworking, 6.7 million euros in social support for families, 5.8 million euros in “other equipment, 5.3 million in the Emergency Fund for Social Support and others, 4.0 in the Invest Line of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 3.9 million euros in “support to companies”, 2.8 million euros in actions to promote tourism, 1, 3 million euros in “other charges” and one million euros in “other support”.
In addition, expenditure on financial assets accounts for 36.5 million euros in support lines for tourism dedicated to micro-enterprises.
The DGO indicates that “in the absence of expenses associated with measures under the scope of covid-19, the effective expenditure of Public Administrations would have grown 4.6% compared to the same period of the previous year (instead of 7.4%) and revenue effective growth would have grown 2.3% (instead of decreasing -0.4%) ”.
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