The Hungarian budget’s net financing requirement — a good approximation for the budget deficit — in the first quarter came to 862 billion forints (EUR 2.5bn), the equivalent of 7.5% of GDP, the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) said.
The budget deficit came to 9.4% of GDP, or 4,540 billion forints, in the twelve previous months, the NBH said. The central budget’s net financing requirement was at 639 billion forints, while local councils’ came to 199 billion forints.
Pandemic-related government expenditures lifted Hungary’s state debt to 81.0% of GDP at the end of the first quarter. The ratio rose from 80.4% at the end of 2020 and was up from 65.8% twelve months earlier. In absolute terms, state debt reached 39,110 billion forints (EUR 111.3bn) at the end of Q1.
Hungary’s constitution stipulates that year-end state debt relative to GDP must decline until the ratio reaches 50%. Lawmakers approved amendments to the 2021 budget in May that target a decline in the year-end state debt level to 79.9%.
hungarymatters.hu
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