During a press conference this morning, Jean Castellini, Minister of Finance and Economy, gave an update on the 2016 fiscal year, as well as presenting once again the main aspects of the preliminary budget for 2017 and talking about the early results of the current year.
In line with the previous four years, the 2016 budget year saw revenue increase of €35,866,124, representing a 22% rise compared to 2015. This result is explained by a marked increase in revenue and less spending, particularly in operational costs.
At the end of the 2016 fiscal year, revenue was at €1,251.2M, against €1,173M for last year (+ €78.2M, or 6.7%). Compared to the revised figures for 2016, final revenues were + €32M, representing a rate of implementation of 102.6%. The results constitute €935.2M of fiscal revenue (+ €32.6M, or + 3.6%) and €316M of other revenue (+ €45.6M, or + 16.9%).
“The preliminary 2017 budget was voted in by the Monaco parliament on 15 December 2016. It continues in the same vein as previous budgets and has been designed with prudence in mind,” explains Jean Castellini. The budget includes a provisional increase in revenue of €6.3M, against €5.8M in the 2016 preliminary budget. This budget forecasts a provisional revenue of €1,210,318,900, which is a €67.1M increase (or + 5.9%) on the preliminary 2016 budget.
It should be noted that the increase in fiscal revenue (+ €45.4M or 5.2%) was largely due to a rise in property transfer taxes (+ €20M) and in VAT (+ €15.1M), which indicates that the government's attractivity policies continue to pay off. Also notable was the increase in revenue from taxes on civil administration procedures (+ €4.5M), as well as on customs taxes (+ €4M), mortgages (+ €2M) and insurance-related tax (+ €1M).
In terms of amenities and investment, the government is continuing its commitment (+ €29M), in order to sustain current building works and, in particular, work on the western entrance to the Principality (€32M), the Ilot Pasteur building, which will include a new middle school (€32M), the Villa L'Engelin (€36M) and all the works linked to the current and future CHPG Princess Grace Hospital site. In relation to investment in materials and facilities (+ €4.4M), it must be noted that the Monaco government is keen to hasten Monaco's commitment to the digital age (by increasing funds for the administrative department's IT system, creating the “Intelligent City” project and the introduction of security policies to fight against technology-based crime).
Au titre des interventions publiques, le Gouvernement accroît son niveau d'intervention (+ 18,7 M€), avec la création d'une ligne budgétaire pour l'abondement d'un Fonds "Retraite et Prévoyance" qui serait dotée chaque année et, pour la première fois en 2017 à hauteur d'un montant de 5 M€, dans la majoration du financement des établissements publics à caractère sanitaire et social (CHPG et satellites et O.P.S. : + 3,9 M€), dans le domaine "international et coopération" (+ 2,8 M€), dans le domaine "éducatif et culturel" (+ 4,7 M€), et, enfin, dans la mise en œuvre de nouveaux partenariats de relations publiques, de relations presse et communication dans le domaine "économique" (+ 2,1 M€).
A fin mars, les résultats, tant sur la base des recettes fiscales que pour la fréquentation touristique, sont en ligne avec les prévisions.
