Hungary 2018 budget deficit 2.2 pc of GDP, under target

Hungary's budget deficit, calculated according to the European Union's accrual-based accounting rules, came to 2.2 percent of GDP last year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Monday. Hungary's government had targeted an ESA 2010 deficit of 2.4 percent of GDP. The government's deficit target for 2019 is 1.8 percent of GDP. In absolute terms, the deficit reached 934 billion forints (EUR 2.9bn). The data show general government revenue rose by 8.5 percent to 18,617 billion forints, while expenditures increased by 8.6 percent to 19,551 billion forints. Meanwhile, KSH said that Hungary's public debt, based on data from the National Bank of Hungary (NBH), stood at 29,807 billion forints at the end of 2018, equivalent to 70.8 percent of GDP.