The most important task of the Hungarian government is handling the effects of the coronavirus epidemic. In addition to protecting people’s lives, other important tasks include rebooting the economy, preserving and recreating jobs, and reinforcing the situation of families and enterprises.

All of the government’s measures serve the abovementioned goals, and accordingly the budget must assure the funding required to both combat the epidemic and for the Economy Protection Action Plan.

The economic measures introduced by the government to date, including the moratorium on loan repayments, the suspension of foreclosures and evictions, and the assistance provided to sectors that have found themselves in difficulties as a result of the epidemic, are having a decisive effect on both the revenue and expenditure side of the budget. In March, a major level of expenditure was devoted to procuring healthcare equipment relating to the coronavirus epidemic, and some 190 billion forints (EUR 530 million) were spent on purchasing face masks and other protective equipment, and respirators.

During the first three months of 2020, the central subsystem of public finances closed with a deficit of 831.9 billion forints (EUR 2.32 billion), with the central budget closing the quarter with a deficit of 746.7 billion forints (EUR 2.08 billion), separate state funds achieving a surplus of 1.7 billion forints (EUR 4.73 million), and social security funds realising a deficit of 86.9 billion forints (EUR 242 million).

Tax revenues continued to increase in comparison to data from the previous year: until the end of March 2020, an additional 90.3 billion forints (EUR 251.5 million) in general sales tax (VAT), 55.0 billion forints (EUR 153.2 million) in personal income tax and 37.9 billion forints (EUR 105.5 million) in corporation tax were paid into the treasury. With relation to the revenues of the central subsystem, it may also be highlighted that 22.7 percent of the annual target for VAT payments, 24.1 percent of personal income tax payments, and 24.2 percent of pension, health insurance and job market contribution payments were realised during the first quarter.

During the first three months of 2020, a total of 63.4 billion forints (EUR 176.6 million) in European Union revenues were paid into the budget, in contrast to 283.7 billion forints (EUR 790 million) in the previous year, while expenditure relating to EU programs approached 691.2 billion forints (EUR 1.93 billion).

(Ministry of Finance/MTI)