DATA SNAP: Hungary Two-Month Budget Deficit 32% Of Annual Target

Hungary has generated a year-to-date budget deficit in February after a surplus in January due mainly to a huge interest payment, the country's Economy Ministry said Wednesday.

The budget posted a deficit of 393.9 billion forints ($1.74 million) in February, taking the deficit of the first two months to HUF294.3 billion, or 32.1% of the full-year deficit target, adjusted for one-off measures, the ministry said in a release.

Interest payments, amounting to HUF286.8 billion, were nevertheless HUF18 billion below the February 2011 figure, the ministry said.

One-off measures with which the ministry corrected the deficit figure are last years' income from mandatory private pension funds amounting to HUF459 billion; extraordinary crisis tax from the financial, the retail, the energy and the telecommunication sectors of HUF358 billion in 2011 and HUF342 billion in 2012; repayments on the verdict of the European Court of Justice of value-added-tax at HUF250 billion; partial debt takeover from local governments and state railway firm MAV Zrt. of HUF246 billion in 2011; state development bank MFB Zrt. capital raise in 2011 of HUF120 billion and the purchase of a 21% package in oil and gas firm MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU) in 2011 for HUF498.6 billion.

-By Veronika Gulyas, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]