Hungary’s cash-flow-based budget deficit, excluding local councils, was 2,309.4 billion forints at the end of March, the Finance Ministry said in a first release of data on Friday.
The central budget shortfall was 2,331.4 billion forints, while social security funds were 17.2 billion in the red. Separate state funds had a surplus of 39.2 billion. The deficit target for the full year is 3,152.7 billion forints. The ministry said expenditures on home subsidies and on pensions were higher in January-March than in the base period. It noted that Hungary’s year-end state debt-to-GDP ratio was a 76.8% in 2021, while the budget deficit reached 6.8% of GDP. “In the current situation of war, it is of crucial importance that Hungary’s economy and budget remain stable, and that households do not bear the burden of the war,” the ministry said. “The budget must continue to manage, as a priority, border defence, assistance for refugees, family support and maintaining tax reductions,” it added.
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