Hungary’s general government, excluding local councils, ran a HUF 83.9bn cash flow-based deficit in August, bringing the January-August deficit to 124.2pc of the full-year target, the National Economy Ministry said in a first reading on Tuesday.
The August deficit was below the HUF 97.7bn shortfall recorded in August 2009.
The central budget had a HUF 81.2bn deficit in August and the two social security funds ran a deficit of HUF 6.0bn. Separate state funds, in contrast, posted a surplus of HUF 3.3bn in August.
The general government deficit for first eight months reached HUF 1,081.4bn, or 124.2pc of the full-year target. The eight-month central budget deficit exceeded the full-year target by 30.9pc.
In the first eight months of 2009, the general government deficit was at 98.7pc of the full-year target and the central budget deficit was at 102.8pc of full-year target.
Central budget revenues in August on the whole fell almost HUF 20bn short of those in August 2009. Revenues from VAT and various fees were only slightly lower, but refunds of a special extra tax on companies for wound up businesses reached HUF 10.1bn.
Revenues of budget-funded institutions and various budget chapters were HUF 6.4bn less than a year earlier and their spending was HUF 12.5bn higher. The difference mainly reflected transfers connected to EU programmes, the ministry said.
Contributions to the social security funds fell compared to August 2009 but higher support from the budget to the National Health Fund and a change in the timing of central budget transfers to the Pension Fund reduced the August deficit of the two funds by HUF 23bn from a year earlier.
The position of the separate state funds improved from a HUF 13.9bn deficit in August 2009 as the Labour Market Fund paid less into the central budget and there were no payments from the Research and Technological Innovation Fund, the ministry said.