On the fourth day after the National Council election, the Ministry of Finance confirmed what economic researchers have been saying for months: this year’s budget deficit will exceed the Maastricht limit of three percent defined by the EU states. The ministry expects 3.3 percent. Before the election, Minister Magnus Brunner (VP) spoke of a 2.9 percent deficit.
When presenting the latest forecast on Friday, Wifo boss Gabriel Felbermayr did not want to assess the timing of the revision by the Ministry of Finance, only this much: “The timing is not particularly lucky.”
- HONEY 1: Strong criticism of the budget deficit
Neos boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger invited people to a press conference where she expressed her “dismay at the finance minister’s dishonesty”. For the opposition politician who would like to govern, “there is actually fire on the roof”. The government “lied against its better judgment.” It was to be expected that the numbers would be worse than admitted – even the 3.3 percent deficit would not hold. Wifo expects a 3.7 percent deficit and four percent new debt next year. “The dramatic thing is the dynamics,” says Meinl-Reisinger. A restructuring path is needed quickly, for which the federal government and the Ministry of Finance are not solely responsible, but also the states.
FP General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz agreed with the government criticism. “Behind me is the flood. Black-Green has damaged the Austrians even more than previously assumed,” it said in a broadcast. The timing of publication shows “that the ÖVP and the Greens just wanted to save themselves as best as possible from the election”. Schnedlitz called for an extension of the electricity price brake.
Image: (APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)
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Image: (APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)
“The budget situation is as dramatic as everyone has known for months and as we have always said,” said SP club boss Philip Kucher. The shrinking economic performance is no surprise: “Austria needs a program for recovery, growth and employment.”
There was no reaction from the ÖVP and the Greens. The Ministry of Finance made it clear that the developments – a lower gross domestic product than expected in the March forecast, lower tax revenues, expenses for the flood – were not foreseeable.
