5.72 billion

Styrian mountain of debt grows and grows

Anton Lang: Corona stopped debt reduction

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Corona has torn deep holes in the Styrian budgets - the state has to take on new debt, but the municipalities are also struggling with massive financial turbulence.

And then came Corona! A sentence that has brought many success stories to an abrupt end in recent years. This is also the case with the Styrian budget. While in the pre-pandemic years, finance officer Anton Lang (SPÖ) was able to post a black zero in the state budget on his credit account, the crisis put a spanner in the works from 2020. The state's mountain of debt has now risen to 5.72 billion euros, with a further 896.9 million added in the previous year. The bulk of this - 532.8 million - was accounted for by the purchase of the 25 percent stake in Energie Steiermark. At the same time, however, assets also increased to 1.9 billion euros.

Styrian municipalities in trouble

What is most worrying, however, is that numerous Styrian municipalities are on their last legs financially. A good 10 percent (Lang: "The trend is rising!") have to use their needs-based allocations to compensate for their negative balance. The financial allocations from the state are intended to be used for investment - in the construction of swimming pools, fire stations, etc. This means that investments are on hold

Due to the provincial elections in the fall, there will be a provisional budget from 1 January 2025, which will be decided by the government today.