Saving needs increase to 12.7 billion euros – Diepresse.com
Austria will clearly exceed the three percent deficit goal this year, the fiscal council calculated in a quick assessment. The experts doubt the scope of the government’s savings package.
At the moment, Austria’s new debt with the forecasts of the economic researchers knows only one way: upwards. The National Bank set an assessment at the end of Marchg before that the domestic budget deficit will be 3.8 percent this year. The fiscal council followed on Friday. A quick assessment of the debt of the debt guards this year has a new debt of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), it will decrease to 4.1 percent of GDP in 2026.
« The significant deterioration of the budget outlook compared to the autumn forecast (the fiscal council 2024, note) is to be attributed to the strong increase in government expenditure in 2024 (deficit 2024 of the GDP), but also to less income due to the continued recession 2025 and the decline in the expected economic growth for 2026, » the experts write in one message.
Deficit procedure inevitable
The government’s savings package in the amount of 6.4 billion euros this year is not enough to push the deficit to the less than three percent of GDP permitted by the EU. If you actually wanted to achieve this goal this year, a lot of further measures would be necessary: the fiscal council has a total volume of the necessary consolidation of 12.7 billion euros.
Austria will not realistically achieve this goal this year, a deficit procedure from the EU seems inevitable. In this case, Austria would have to coordinate its budget plans with the Commission.
According to the economists of the fiscal council, the debt rate will reach a historical high in the coming year: 86.1 percent of GDP are a new negative record (previous high: 85.6 percent in 2015).
Volume of the savings package doubts
The office of the fiscal council doubts that the savings package has a scope of 6.4 billion euros and will have a scope of 8.7 billion euros in 2026. In fact, there is only a relief of the budgets balance of 4.2 and 4.9 billion euros in the coming year. « On the one hand, the planned consolidation volume is not fully occupied by individual measures. On the other hand, the consolidation volume of individual measures is significantly less estimated than expected from the government, » the experts write.
To a similar conclusion, the National Bank economists came. They appreciate the savings volume of government measures this year at just under four billion euros. Especially in the cuts of factual expenditure and transfers, the package will be under the official information of the government.
