Hungary’s second-quarter national deficit was HUF 302 billion, or 4% of GDP, according to figures released by the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) on Monday. It is unclear whether this figure included the central bank’s recent purchase of a luxury office building in downtown Pest for USD 53.3 million: the MNB earlier claimed such acquisitions do not “involve expenditures on the part of the taxpayers or the budget”.

According to the MNB, Hungary’s national debt at the end of June was 85.1 % of GDP, up 0.6 of a percentage point from the end of March (84.4%) and 5.7 percentage points from the end of 2013 (79.4%).

Hungary’s net debt increased HUF 434 billion in the second quarter, with the weakening of the forint accounting for an additional HUF 65 billion of debt.

The country’s gross national debt was HUF 24.432 trillion at the end of June. Net debt was HUF 22.818 trillion, or 76.3% of GDP, 0.3 percentage points less than at the end of March (73.6%) but higher than at the end of 2013 (73%).

The gross debt of the national government increased HUF 2.35 trillion the first half of 2014 due in part to the sale of USD 3 billion (HUF 660 billion) of bonds in March. Hungary’s national debt increased HUF 918 billion or 3.1% of GDP in the previous year.

Opposition coalition Together-Dialogue for Hungary (Együtt-PM) called on the government to strengthen the forint and create an investor-friendly environment.

“(Prime Minister) Viktor Orban and his right hand, (Central Bank governor) Gyorgy Matolcsy have again lost a battle in the war undertaken against the national debt, which is now at a 20-year high,” Together-Dialogue for Hungary said. “The Day of Collapse is approaching. The cabinet’s dilettante economic policy, and the central bank’s bad interest and forint policies have resulted in debt reaching its highest level in 20 years. And no decrease can be expected in the future.”

A government spokesperson claimed deficit figures would improve over the course of the year as the national economy grew.

Source: The Budapest Beacon

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