The budget deficit is expected to remain unchanged at 2.7% of gross domestic product in 2024 as the economy returns to growth after a recession this year, the ministry’s budget figures showed. — Reuters
VIENNA: Austria’s conservative Finance Minister Magnus Brunner will announce a 2024 budget that provides for a stable budget deficit just within the European Union’s limit of 3% of economic output, a presentation issued by his ministry shows.
The budget deficit is expected to remain unchanged at 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 as the economy returns to growth after a recession this year, the ministry’s budget figures showed.
The current parliament expires in just under a year and polls show both parties in the coalition government – chancellor Karl Nehammer’s conservatives and the left-wing Greens – are set to lose seats.
The conservatives are neck-and-neck with the opposition, centre-left Social Democrats, both well behind the far-right Freedom Party, which is polling around 30%.Austria’s budget deficit swelled to 8% of GDP in 2020 as the country spent lavishly to keep the economy afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic. It then shrank to 5.8% of GDP in 2021 and 3.5% last year, finance ministry data showed.
Economic think-tank Wifo, which provides the government with growth forecasts the budget is based on, this month slashed its forecast for this year to a 0.8% decline in GDP driven by factors including an economic slowdown in neighbouring Germany, to be followed by 1.2% GDP growth next year. — Reuters
