Outgoing Orbán government deficit reaches extreme high between January-March

Hungary’s cash flow-based general government deficit reached HUF 3,420.4bn at the end of March, the National Economy Ministry confirmed in a detailed release of data on Wednesday.

The central budget deficit reached HUF 3,242.6bn and the social security funds were HUF 190.3bn in the red, but separate state funds had a surplus of HUF 12.5bn.

The deficit for the month of March alone reached HUF 1,313.6bn, climbing from HUF 831.2bn in the base period on government support for home purchases and renovation as well as road work, the ministry said. March was the first month interest payments for the Home Start subsidised lending scheme for first-time home buyers showed up in the budget, it added.

Central budget revenue from taxes and contributions rose 8.1pc in January-March from the same period a year earlier.

“The budget is stable and funding for programmes supporting Hungarian families and businesses is secure,” the ministry said.

The detailed data show expenditures for home purchase support reached HUF 148.2bn.

Net interest expenditures came to HUF 669.5bn in January-March, down by HUF 786.1bn from the base period.

Hungary’s central budget debt rose by HUF 3,977.6bn during the period, boosted by HUF 2,266.3bn of net forint issues and HUF 1,683.4bn of net FX issues.

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