(Bloomberg) -- Hungary probably overshot its budget deficit goal last year after the nation re-entered a recession, according to Economy Ministry estimates.
The shortfall probably came in at about 4.8% of gross domestic product, compared with an already upwardly revised target of 4.5%, according to a ministry statement on Thursday. The government still intends to meet its 3.7% deficit goal this year, it said, adding that last year’s data was a marked improvement from the 6.7% deficit level recorded in 2023.
Hungary is among eight European Union members subject to the bloc’s excessive-deficit procedure, which threaten fines for fiscal offenders unless they get their budgets in shape. The nation has repeatedly missed its budget goals since the Covid-19 pandemic and after record election spending in 2022 that helped Prime Minister Viktor Orban win a fourth consecutive term.
The government has limited spending room this year with the forint trading near a two-year low against the euro and with Orban’s party trailing in polls ahead of parliamentary elections due in the first half of next year.
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