Hungary’s cash flow-based budget balance reached 2,709.7 billion forints (EUR 7.2bn) at the end of April, the finance ministry confirmed in a detailed release of data on Tuesday. The deficit widened from 2,089.7 billion at the end of March. The central budget deficit reached 2,671.6 billion forints at the end of April and the social security funds were 77.4 billion in the red. Separate state funds had a 39.3 billion forint surplus.
The ministry noted that expenditures related to the regulated utilities price scheme for households came to 848.5 billion forints by the end of April. Expenditures on home subsidies reached 283.3 billion forints in January-April, climbing by 106.4 billion forints from the base period on higher payouts for home renovations, the ministry said. Spending on state assets grew as building investments and transport infrastructure developments “advanced by a large degree”, it added.
“The government’s primary goal is to protect families as well as preserve workplaces and the value of pensions, even amid the drawn out war and the energy crisis caused by the resulting sanctions,” the ministry said. With a nearly quadrupled allocation to keep the regulated utilities price scheme in place in the 2023 budget, the government continues to ensure families, businesses and local councils the “biggest utilities support in Europe”, it added. “The government is improving balance indicators in the perilous international environment, too, reducing the fiscal deficit and state debt,” the ministry said. The full-year deficit target is 3,400.2 billion forints. The deficit reached 4,753.4 billion forints in 2022.