Hungary reports 2,311 billion forint August budget deficit

Hungary's central budget recorded a deficit of 2,311.2 billion forints in August, bringing the total deficit for the first eight months of the year to 5,169.1 billion forints. The Ministry of Finance attributed this spike primarily to 2,186.9 billion forints in pre-financing related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) programs.

When excluding the one-time impact of RRF pre-financing, the August deficit stood at 124.3 billion forints. The Ministry noted that revenues related to RRF programs are expected to arrive later, likely in December.

Regarding tax revenues, corporate tax for the first eight months reached 661.3 billion forints, a decrease of 55.8 billion compared to the previous year. Value-added tax (VAT) revenue totaled 5,595.9 billion forints, up 225.8 billion from the prior year. However, excise tax revenue saw a decline, partly due to lower tax rates on fuels and regulatory changes.