Budapest Municipal Assembly Passes 2025 Budget - Budapest Business Journal (original) (raw)

The shortfall is planned to be financed from accumulations unused in the previous years.

The budget has earmarked HUF 7.47 bln for loan repayment.

The budget bill undersigned by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony was approved with 20 votes in favour and 10 votes against cast by Fidesz-KDNP. Three representatives of the Two-Tailed Dog Party left the chamber prior to the start of the vote.

In the budget proposal, Karácsony said that “the situation of Budapest’s budget is unsustainable”, adding that the government’s requirement of a payment of increasing contributions to the central budget would lead to asking the question whether the capital could retain its financial autonomy.

“A draft budget has been submitted to the assembly that fights not only for the operation of a city that has been bled dry, but also for its self-determination,” he said.

In the debate about the budget, the mayor said Budapest had implemented “a predictable wage policy” over the previous years which included an agreement with trade unions on next year’s wage increases.

“Next year’s budget contains the resources for the wages increases,” Karácsony said.

He said that the answer to the question often raised about “the whereabouts of the city’s financial reserves” was there “in the central budget”, insisting that the central government had “taken way” HUF 277 bln from the city under the previous cycle.