Austria's budget deficit: warning of alarming developments!

Austria's budget deficit: warning of alarming developments!

Vienna, Österreich - Fiscal council President Christoph Badelt submitted a critical assessment of Austria's budget situation on April 10, 2025. According to his current forecasts, an even higher deficit is predicted for 2025 than expected. In November and December 2024, the fiscal council published a deficit rate of 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2025. However, this assessment is now considered too optimistic. Badelt expresses concerns that the planned values for deficit and debt ratio are not acceptable economically and EU under EU law. He also points out that the debt ratio with 81.6% of GDP is already above the Maastricht reference value of 60%

A new report by the fiscal council will be published on Friday, in which Badelt also indicates the mistake of the previous government. This has abolished the cold progression and at the same time increased the expenses, which in his opinion is not sustainable. "The abolition of the cold progression and expenditure increases cannot work at the same time," emphasizes Badelt. In addition, he is concerned about the credibility of politics and the influence that it has on democracy. He calls on the government to develop a new program for budget consolidation for the years 2025 and 2026.

economic framework conditions

according to the Parlament The budget situation in Austria has deteriorated by an unfavorable change in the income and expenditure structure. Despite a robust job market, the government is difficult to get the budget deficits under control. The current economic policy, which often does not require counter -financing and is characterized by high inflation, is mentioned as the cause of the continued high budget deficits. The debt rate is expected to increase to around 85 % by 2028, which is a significant increase in comparison to the time before the crisis.

In order to adhere to the new EU fiscal frame, extensive, structural austerity measures are required from 2025 to 2028. This is not just an adaptation of the expenses, but also comprehensive structural reforms are required. In particular, the fiscal council refers to the need to increase competitiveness and efficiency of the funding measures.

recommended consolidation measures

The fiscal council recommended a number of measures to consolidate the budget position. This includes both output and revenue -based measures, with the expenditure consolidation being considered more sustainable as a budget. High expenses, especially due to pension and salary increases in the public service, continue to raise deficits. The fiscal council emphasizes that an impending decline in the budget deficit to 3.5% by 2028 is only realistic in conjunction with an economic recovery.