BUDAPEST: Hungaryʼs cashflow-based general government deficit, excluding local councils, reached HUF 609.8 billion at the end of April, the National Economy Ministry said in a second reading of data yesterday. The deficit reached 69.5% of the HUF 877.4 billion full-year target, the ministry confirmed in the report.
The ministry noted that the deficit had reached HUF 951.2 bln at the end of April last year. The central budget deficit came to HUF 643.6 billion for January-April. The social insurance funds and separate state funds had surpluses of HUF 23.6 billion and HUF 10.2 billion, respectively.
The ministry noted that the deficit is front-loaded, as usual, with expenditures exceeding revenue in the first half of the year. It attributed the favourable balance at the end April to higher tax revenue thanks to economic growth as well as a favourable interest balance. The ministry also said that expenditures had been lifted by the early payment of social support as well as some public sector wages at the end of April, because of the long weekend over the May Day holiday.
The payments will reduce expenditures in May, it added. The ministry confirmed the full-year deficit target of 2.4% of GDP, calculated according to European Union rules. Planned amendments to this yearʼs budget also show the target being met, it added. The amendments, submitted in April by the government, would raise the cashflow-based deficit target to HUF 892.4 billion.
