A deficit of €565.8 million was reported by the government’s consolidated fund by the end of March. This was €253.3 million more than in the same period in 2020, the National Statistics Office said. The difference, the NSO said, mirrors an increase in total expenditure: €276.8 million in recurrent expenditure, a €1.3 million drop in interest and a €34.6 million decline in capital expenditure. There was also a drop of €12.4 million in recurrent revenue. The NSO said that decreases in revenue and increases in expenditure reflected developments related to COVID-19. It said that recurrent revenue in this year’s first quarter amounted to €913.2 million, 1.3% less than the €925.6 million reported a year earlier. The largest decrease was recorded under licences, taxes and fines (€24.4 million), followed by grants (€19.9 million) and social security (€18.8 million). The drop in revenue was marginally offset by increases reported including under income tax (€41.6 million) and value added tax (€19.3 million). Total expenditure in the first quarter stood at €1,479 million, 19.5% higher than the previous year. Recurrent expenditure totalled €1,312.1 million, €276.8 million more than the...