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The fiscal crisis in Hungary is gaining momentum: in the first four months of 2025, the country’s budget deficit exceeded HUF 2.9 trillion (over $8 billion), setting a historical anti-record.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing data from the Hungarian Ministry of Economy.
According to official reports, in April alone, the budget deficit amounted to HUF 376 billion (over $899 million). The main reason for this is the rapid growth of interest payments, which significantly exceeded tax revenues.
Despite the challenging situation, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Cornel Kiszgergel stressed that the government is not going to ease its fiscal policy even in the run-up to the 2026 parliamentary elections.
“We have significantly frozen budget expenditures, which demonstrates the ability of our fiscal policy to respond quickly,” Kisergel said, but did not specify which expenditures were cut.
The Hungarian authorities had previously forecast economic growth of 2.5% in 2025, but the first quarter showed the opposite trend, with GDP declining.
Economists expect that the austerity measures imposed by Viktor Orban’s government could deepen the recession while limiting political manoeuvres ahead of the elections.
