diff --git a/internal/interpreter/function_exprs.go b/internal/interpreter/function_exprs.go
index 667ef21e..48e785bd 100644
--- a/internal/interpreter/function_exprs.go
+++ b/internal/interpreter/function_exprs.go
@@ -60,13 +60,23 @@ func meta(
 		return "", err
 	}
 
+	// Check the cache first, so that we don't query the store again
+	// for a (account, key) pair we already fetched
+	if value, ok := s.CachedAccountsMeta[*account][*key]; ok {
+		return value, nil
+	}
+
+	// Note: we do not cache negative lookups, so a key that is absent from
+	// the store is queried again (and errors again) on every meta() call
 	meta, fetchMetaErr := s.Store.GetAccountsMetadata(s.ctx, MetadataQuery{
 		*account: []string{*key},
 	})
 	if fetchMetaErr != nil {
 		return "", QueryMetadataError{WrappedError: fetchMetaErr}
 	}
-	s.CachedAccountsMeta = meta
+	// Merge the fetched metadata into the cache instead of replacing it,
+	// so that previously cached entries are preserved
+	s.CachedAccountsMeta.Merge(meta)
 
 	// body
 	accountMeta := s.CachedAccountsMeta[*account]
diff --git a/internal/utils/__snapshots__/pretty_csv_test.snap b/internal/utils/__snapshots__/pretty_csv_test.snap
index 18e0527e..e9944c04 100755
--- a/internal/utils/__snapshots__/pretty_csv_test.snap
+++ b/internal/utils/__snapshots__/pretty_csv_test.snap
@@ -12,3 +12,11 @@
 | b                       | 12345 |
 | very-very-very-long-key |       |
 ---
+
+[TestPrettyCsvRaggedRows - 1]
+| Account | Asset    | Balance |
+| alice   | EUR/2    | 1       |
+| bob     |          |         |
+| charlie | USD/1234 |         |
+| dave    | BTC      | 3       |
+---
diff --git a/internal/utils/pretty_csv.go b/internal/utils/pretty_csv.go
index 1703b56f..82520aa8 100644
--- a/internal/utils/pretty_csv.go
+++ b/internal/utils/pretty_csv.go
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/formancehq/numscript/internal/ansi"
 )
 
-// Fails if the header is shorter than any of the rows
+// Rows shorter than the header are padded with empty cells;
+// cells beyond the header length are ignored for padding purposes
 func CsvPretty(
 	header []string,
 	rows [][]string,
@@ -34,9 +35,10 @@ func CsvPretty(
 		maxLen := len(fieldName)
 
 		for _, row := range rows {
-			// panics if row[fieldIndex] is out of bounds
-			// thus we must never have unlabeled cols
-			maxLen = max(maxLen, len(row[fieldIndex]))
+			// rows shorter than the header are treated as having empty cells
+			if fieldIndex < len(row) {
+				maxLen = max(maxLen, len(row[fieldIndex]))
+			}
 		}
 
 		maxLengths[fieldIndex] = maxLen
@@ -61,10 +63,15 @@ func CsvPretty(
 	// -- Print rows
 	for _, row := range rows {
 		var partialRow []string
-		for index, fieldName := range row {
+		for index := range header {
+			// missing cells in ragged rows are rendered as empty strings
+			var fieldValue string
+			if index < len(row) {
+				fieldValue = row[index]
+			}
 			partialRow = append(partialRow, fmt.Sprintf("| %-*s ",
 				maxLengths[index],
-				fieldName,
+				fieldValue,
 			))
 		}
 		partialRow = append(partialRow, "|")
diff --git a/internal/utils/pretty_csv_test.go b/internal/utils/pretty_csv_test.go
index 010456b7..5d850b21 100644
--- a/internal/utils/pretty_csv_test.go
+++ b/internal/utils/pretty_csv_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,21 @@ func TestPrettyCsv(t *testing.T) {
 	snaps.MatchSnapshot(t, out)
 }
 
+func TestPrettyCsvRaggedRows(t *testing.T) {
+	// rows shorter (or longer) than the header must not panic;
+	// missing cells are rendered as empty strings
+	out := utils.CsvPretty([]string{
+		"Account", "Asset", "Balance",
+	}, [][]string{
+		{"alice", "EUR/2", "1"},
+		{"bob"},
+		{"charlie", "USD/1234"},
+		{"dave", "BTC", "3", "extra-cell"},
+	}, true)
+
+	snaps.MatchSnapshot(t, out)
+}
+
 func TestPrettyCsvMap(t *testing.T) {
 	out := utils.CsvPrettyMap("Name", "Value", map[string]string{
 		"a":                       "0",
diff --git a/numscript_test.go b/numscript_test.go
index aef0c1da..dc8334e7 100644
--- a/numscript_test.go
+++ b/numscript_test.go
@@ -539,6 +539,110 @@ send [USD/2 10] (
 
 }
 
+func TestMetaFunctionCachesQueries(t *testing.T) {
+	parseResult := numscript.Parse(`vars {
+	string $a = meta(@acc1, "key1")
+	string $b = meta(@acc2, "key2")
+	string $a_again = meta(@acc1, "key1")
+}
+set_tx_meta("a", $a)
+set_tx_meta("b", $b)
+set_tx_meta("a_again", $a_again)
+`)
+
+	require.Empty(t, parseResult.GetParsingErrors(), "There should not be parsing errors")
+
+	store := scopedMetaStore{
+		meta: interpreter.AccountsMetadata{
+			"acc1": {"key1": "value1"},
+			"acc2": {"key2": "value2"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	res, err := parseResult.Run(context.Background(), numscript.VariablesMap{}, &store)
+	require.Nil(t, err)
+
+	// merging the second query into the cache must not clobber
+	// the previously cached acc1 metadata
+	require.Equal(t,
+		numscript.Metadata{
+			"a":       interpreter.String("value1"),
+			"b":       interpreter.String("value2"),
+			"a_again": interpreter.String("value1"),
+		},
+		res.Metadata)
+
+	// acc1's "key1" is cached after the first meta() call,
+	// so the third meta() call must not query the store again
+	require.Equal(t,
+		[]numscript.MetadataQuery{
+			{"acc1": {"key1"}},
+			{"acc2": {"key2"}},
+		},
+		store.GetMetadataCalls)
+}
+
+func TestMetaFunctionMissingKeyStillErrors(t *testing.T) {
+	parseResult := numscript.Parse(`vars {
+	string $a = meta(@acc1, "key1")
+	string $b = meta(@acc1, "missing_key")
+}
+set_tx_meta("a", $a)
+set_tx_meta("b", $b)
+`)
+
+	require.Empty(t, parseResult.GetParsingErrors(), "There should not be parsing errors")
+
+	store := scopedMetaStore{
+		meta: interpreter.AccountsMetadata{
+			"acc1": {"key1": "value1"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	// even though acc1's metadata is (partially) cached,
+	// a key that is absent from the store must still error
+	_, err := parseResult.Run(context.Background(), numscript.VariablesMap{}, &store)
+	require.NotNil(t, err)
+
+	notFoundErr, ok := err.(interpreter.MetadataNotFound)
+	require.True(t, ok, "expected a MetadataNotFound error, got: %v", err)
+	require.Equal(t, "acc1", notFoundErr.Account)
+	require.Equal(t, "missing_key", notFoundErr.Key)
+}
+
+// A store that, unlike StaticStore, only returns the queried
+// (account, key) pairs, and records the metadata queries it receives
+type scopedMetaStore struct {
+	meta             interpreter.AccountsMetadata
+	GetMetadataCalls []numscript.MetadataQuery
+}
+
+func (s *scopedMetaStore) GetBalances(ctx context.Context, q interpreter.BalanceQuery) (interpreter.Balances, error) {
+	return interpreter.StaticStore{}.GetBalances(ctx, q)
+}
+
+func (s *scopedMetaStore) GetAccountsMetadata(_ context.Context, q interpreter.MetadataQuery) (interpreter.AccountsMetadata, error) {
+	s.GetMetadataCalls = append(s.GetMetadataCalls, q)
+
+	out := interpreter.AccountsMetadata{}
+	for account, keys := range q {
+		for _, key := range keys {
+			value, ok := s.meta[account][key]
+			if !ok {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			accountMeta, ok := out[account]
+			if !ok {
+				accountMeta = interpreter.AccountMetadata{}
+				out[account] = accountMeta
+			}
+			accountMeta[key] = value
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
 type ObservableStore struct {
 	StaticStore      interpreter.StaticStore
 	GetBalancesCalls []numscript.BalanceQuery