BUDAPEST: Hungaryʼs cashflow-based general government deficit, excluding local councils, reached HUF 894.1 bln at the end of July, a first reading of data released by the National Economy Ministry yesterday reveals, according to Hungarian news agency MTI.
The deficit reached about 100.1% of the HUF 892.4 bln full-year target, Econews calculated. The ministry noted that the deficit had reached HUF 851.4 bln at the end of July last year. The ministry attributed the difference between the two years to changes to European Union funding.
The central budget deficit came to HUF 953.7 bln for January-July. The social insurance funds and separate state funds had surpluses of HUF 36.7 bln and HUF 22.9 bln, respectively. For the month of July, the deficit came to HUF 70.8 bln. The gap was above the HUF 37.7 bln deficit in the same month a year earlier.
Tax revenues have significantly risen over the past 12 months, however chapter-administered allocations from the EU were lower than last year. The ministry noted that the deficit is front-loaded, as usual, with expenditures exceeding revenue in the first half of the year. The ministry confirmed the full-year deficit target of 2.4% of GDP, calculated according to European Union rules.
