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Kiss said Budapest’s current account was HUF 64 bln (EUR 173 mln) in the red, while the city must also repay an HUF 80 bln overdraft after Sept. 18 and an HUF 45 bln public transport loan due at the end of the month.
At the same time, the capital expects to receive HUF 115 bln-120 bln in business tax revenues before the end of September.
Kiss said those revenues could cover interest and principal repayments, as well as wages due in early October, but “from then on the capital will have no available resources.”
Tax revenues will decline after September, and Budapest “will not have sufficient resources to finance the rest of the year,” he said.
Kiss noted that legal proceedings are underway over Budapest’s contested solidarity tax and said the city and the government could seek an out-of-court settlement, but that would require “an agreement on resources.”
Budapest has paid HUF 30 bln in solidarity tax to the central budget since the beginning of the year and is due to pay a further HUF 86 bln in mid-October, he said.
Kiss also welcomed the recent revival of the Metropolitan Council of Public Developments, saying “the philosophy is now about the future rather than about cutting Budapest’s throat.”
He added that an agreement with the government could now be “just a matter of time.”
The re-established development council will have 10 members, with five delegated by the city and five by the government, Kiss said.
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