Economy ministry: Hungary’s budget deficit 52.8 pc FY target in June

Budapest, July 21 (MTI) – Hungary’s budget deficit, excluding local councils, reached 402.1 billion forints at the end of June, 52.8 percent of the full-year target, the Economy Ministry confirmed in a second reading of cash-flow-based data released Thursday.

The ministry noted that the deficit was less than half of that in the same period a year earlier and attributed the difference to lower expenditures and higher tax revenue resulting from favourable economic trends and a crackdown on tax evasion.

For the month of June alone, the budget posted a 388.9 billion forint deficit. Expenditures were higher than in previous months because of interest payments related to debt servicing and payouts for European Union programmes as the 2014-2020 funding cycle gathers momentum, the ministry said.

The government target of 2 percent of GDP for the full-year deficit, calculated according to EU accounting rules, is “realistic and achievable”, the ministry said.

The ministry also stressed again that the UK’s decision to leave the EU would not require any amendments to either this year’s or next year’s budget.

The central budget ran a 514.9 billion forint deficit, while the social insurance funds and separate state funds had surpluses of 47.2 billion and 65.6 billion, respectively.

(HUF 100 = EUR 0.3179)

Source: MTI