Government spending has gone up by 15.4 percent since 1998 while revenue has gone up by 16.6 percent - mainly from increased taxes - in the same period, according to statistics released by Government yesterday.

The Government Statistics Department released the Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics third quarter results which showed Government spending has gone up to $456 million for the first three quarters of 2001 from $395 for the first three quarters of 1998.

Increases in taxes have led to revenue going from $415.2 million in the first three quarters of 1998 to $484 million in the same time frame in 2001.

This leaves a much increased (up 38.6 percent) surplus which has risen from $20.2 million in the first three quarters of 1998 to $28 million in the same period in 2001.

Since 1998 spending has been rising steadily, 4.4 percent to $412.2 million from the first three quarters of 1998 to the same period in 1999, a further 2.5 percent to $422.7 million from 1999 to 2000, and 7.8 percent to $456 million from the first nine months of 2000 to the same time frame in 2001.

Spending on public debt has soared by 45 percent since the first three quarters of 1998, going from $6.2 million in the nine months of 1998 to $6.8 million in the same time period in 1999 and then up to $7.4 million in 2000 and rising to $9 million for the same period in 2001.

Wages rose more moderately, with the cost of salaries and wages rising 12.6 percent from the first three quarters of 1998 from $179.1 to $201.6 million in the same period in 2001. The wage bill rose ten percent from the first three quarters of 2000 when it was $183.3 million to $201.6 million for the same period.

Spending on unspecified "other goods and services" has jumped by 26.8 percent for the first three months of 1998 compared to 2001. In the first three quarters of each year this figure has risen from $92.7 million in 1998 to $93.4 million in 1999 to $97.2 million in 2000 and jumped $20.4 million or 21.0 percent to $117.6 million in 2001.

Total current expenditure, the cost of day-to-day running of the Island, has reached $418.1 million for the first three quarters of 2001, up 11.8 percent from the same period last year and up 20.7 percent or $71.6 million from 1998.

Total capital expenditure, the cost of projects such as the building and machinery, however, has gone down by $10.6 million or 28.9 percent from $48.5 million in the first nine months of 1998 to $37.9 million in the same period in 2001.

Government revenue, the amount of money the Government brings in by taxation, has also been rising steadily. For the first three months of 1998 revenue stood at $415.2, which rose six percent to $40.8 for the same period in 1999, and the same time frame in 2000 rose by 3.5 percent to $456.5 and then went up again by 6 percent to $484 million.

Money collected from stamp duty, the tax on buying and selling houses, has risen by 2.4 times the figure for the first three quarters of 1998 from $16 million to $39.1 million in the same period in 2001. Year-on-year, the tax levied more than doubled from $18.8 million to $39.1 million. The amount of stamp duty levied on international companies has risen by 56 percent in the first three quarters of the last four years, rising from $28.9 million in 1998 to $45.1 in 2001. From the first three quarters of 2000 compared to the same period in 200, the difference is a rise of $9.2 million or 25.6 percent.

The next highest tax increase was in land tax, which rose 40.6 percent or $10.1 million from the first three quarters in 1998 when it stood at $24.9 million to $35 million in the same time period in 2001.

Land tax fell to just $17.1 million in the first nine months of 1999, but jumped to $29.9 million for the first three quarters of 2000.

Payroll tax increases have led to a huge jump of 24.2 percent or $26.3 million from $108.7 million collected in the first nine months of 1998 to $135 million in the same time frame in 2001. Year-on-year the increase for the first nine months is $12.9 million or 10.6 percent.

After remaining static for several years, the amount of taxes raised from vehicle licences, i.e. bikes, cars and trucks, rose to $15 million for the first nine months, a jump of 21.0 percent year-on year for the same time frame and of over 17 percent from the same period in 1998.

Customs duty over the past four years has risen by 10.6 percent from $122 million in the first nine months of 1998 to $134.4 for the same period in 2001. Year-on-year, it has risen by 5.2 percent from $128.2.

Hotel occupancy income rose by 11.2 percent from 1998 for the first three quarters, rising from $8 million to $8.9 million in the same period in 2001. This figure for the same period stood at $9.6 million in 1999 and $8.7 million in 2000.

Telecommunications tax, the tax levied on carriers, rose by 26.7 percent from the first nine months of 1998 to the same period in 2001. Year-on-year, the tax rose $1 million or 21.3 percent from $4.7 million to $5.7 million.

The only tax to fall year-on-year for the first three quarters of the year were passenger tax and the "all other" category.

Passenger tax for the time frame dropped six6 percent from $19.9 million for the period in 2000 to $18.7 million in for the same time period in 2001.

The unspecified "all other" fell from $71.2 million for the first nine months of 1998 to $65.9 million, a drop of over eight percent. In the same period in 2000, the figure stood at $75.9 million, which dropped 13.83 percent for the same period in 2001.