The government deficit for the first four months of the year came to Ft 745.4 billion ($4.1 billion), or 2.9% of GDP, 0.1 point less than the Ministry’s projection. Finance Minister János Veres said the ‘better than-expected’ figures were mainly due to higher revenues from social security contributions, the value-added and excise taxes. The government met both its revenue and expenditure targets for January-April as it stayed in control of spending, he said. The Finance Ministry on April 18 lowered its forecast for the annual deficit to 6.6% of GDP from 6.8%.Veres said the International Monetary Fund’s and the European Commission’s reports on Hungary, published yesterday, have confirmed that the government’s decisions from last year are beginning to show a positive impact on Hungary’s fiscal balance. He said the Finance Ministry expects spending would not exceed the target in the coming months and that he would propose to the cabinet on Wednesday freeing up up to a quarter of the Ft 80 billion that had been laid up in reserves to cover any overshoots. (Gazdasági Rádió, Napi Gazdaság)
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