Hungarian govt targets 3.5 pc / GDP deficit, 1.5 pc growth in 2023

Hungary’s government aims to reduce the budget deficit to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2023 from this year’s deficit of 4.9 percent and expects the economy to grow by 1.5 percent following the 5 percent expansion expected this year, the minister of economic development said on Thursday.

Energy prices impose an extremely heavy burden on the budget, Márton Nagy told a conference organised by the Oeconomus Foundation for Economic Research in Budapest, adding that the state’s energy costs were expected to come to HUF 2,500 billion (EUR 6.1bn) next year.

The budget would be balanced or would have a surplus without the drastic price increases, Nagy said, adding that the deficit could be attributed entirely to high energy costs.