By the end of May, the central fiscal subsystem closed with a deficit of HUF 2,763.3 billion. Within this, the central budget showed a deficit of HUF 2752.4 billion, the separate state funds showed a surplus of HUF 56.5 billion, and the social security financial funds showed a deficit of HUF 67.3 billion.
In May (in one month), the central subsystem closed with a deficit of HUF 53.6 billion, the lowest May deficit in the past seven years.
In the first half of the year, due to well-known operations and one-time expenses, the deficit was higher, and its rise was faster. In the first five months of the year, spending on housing subsidies amounted to HUF 320.3 billion, which was HUF 95.7 billion higher than in the same period of the previous year.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the main reason for the discrepancy in the case of the home renovation subsidy is the carry-over payment from last year, which is paid by the Hungarian treasury with continuous processing.
Within the individual and standard expenditures, HUF 894.6 billion has been spent as of the end of May in respect of general protection expenses to compensate providers of district heating and universal service of residential electricity and natural gas. In the first five months, compared to the same period in the previous year, babysitting benefits were higher:
An additional HUF 26.2 billion was spent for this purpose, while an additional HUF 4.6 billion was spent on subsidizing student loan schemes.
In addition to all this, the amounts spent on retirement benefits and curative preventive care also exceeded the amount paid in the previous year. We have spent HUF 2,567.7 billion on respite care and HUF 933.0 billion on curative and preventive care until the end of May.
The numbers were faltering last month
By the end of April, the central fiscal subsystem closed with a deficit of HUF 2,709.7 billion. Within that, the central budget showed a deficit of HUF 2,671.6 billion, the separate state funds showed a surplus of HUF 39.3 billion, and the social security financial funds showed a deficit of HUF 77.4 billion. Central subsystem revenue of HUF 11,375.4 billion at the end of April increased by CHF 1,550.8 billion, or 15.8 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier.
Expenditures at the end of April amounted to HUF 14,085.1 billion and amounted to HUF 1,625.0 billion, up 13.0 percent over the same period of the previous year.
According to the initial plan, Mihaly Varga presented the 2024 budget to parliament at the end of May, and before that he explained the details in government information. The government expects a growth of 4 percent, a public budget deficit of 2.9 percent, 66.7 percent of the public debt, and annual inflation of about six percent.
In the draft, called the Defense Budget by the government, 1,300 billion forints will be allocated for national defense, and another 1,360 billion forints is the amount of the Public Defense Fund. Okkus Peter Bode economist assesses the draft in our article: “4 percent GDP growth is just hope. The Hungarian economy was only able to achieve this rate of expansion in the long run during a very nice external economy, with an abundance of transfers from the Union European”.
(Cover photo: Hungarian Treasury Building. Photo: László Róka/MTI)
