Finance Minister: Budget deficit below 3 percent likely by 2025
A budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP can be achieved by 2025, halving from last year's 6 percent, Mihaly Varga, the finance minister, said in a radio interview on Thursday.
Notwithstanding consecutive crises, weak consumption on the back of a drop in real wages which led to less tax revenues, the budget held its own, Varga told commercial broadcaster Inforadio.
Boosting growth while keeping an eye on the fiscal balance is the government’s focus, he said, noting that the budget could not be decoupled from the state of the economy, but the balance was constantly improving.
He said that ensuring sustainable and stable economic growth depended on maintaining budgetary discipline.
Pushing down the shortfall from 6 percent of GDP to 3 percent could not happen in a single year, and two years would be needed, Varga added.
