Austerity package necessary?

Public debt has risen to 383.2 billion euros

Austria's national debt rose in the first quarter of 2024. The EU Commission and the Fiscal Council are now calling for an austerity package (symbolic image).

(Bild: luzitanija - stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

Austria's national debt climbed to 383.2 billion euros in the first quarter of 2024. This was announced by Statistics Austria on Thursday, according to which Austria has thus moved further away from the Maastricht target.

This stipulates a maximum debt ratio of 60 percent, whereby the debt ratio is the ratio of government debt to nominal gross domestic product. Among other things, this target is intended to ensure price stability. Austria's actual figure in the first quarter of 2024 was 79.7%. At the end of the previous year, public debt was 12.1 billion euros higher.

What the increase is based on
According to Statistics Austria, the highest increase in public debt was attributable to the federal sector. The federal government had used the borrowed funds to cover a deficit and ensure liquidity. Bonds accounted for most of the debt at the end of March, followed by loans and deposits. Debt in the municipal and social security sectors also increased slightly. By contrast, the state sector was able to reduce its liabilities slightly.

The public deficit amounted to 6.4 billion euros in the first quarter of the year, or 5.3 percent of quarterly gross domestic product. This figure was also lower in the same period of the previous year.

The government is leaving behind a backlog of reforms and damage for Austria.

Douglas Hoyos, NEOS-Generalsekretär

EU Commission: put together an austerity package
The NEOS party criticized the debt ratio on Thursday. The party would meet with experts in the summer to discuss potential savings. After all, according to the Fiscal Council and the EU Commission, the future government will have to put together an austerity package of more than ten billion euros. The current government had also stipulated in its program that it was aiming for a debt ratio of around 60 percent, said NEOS Secretary General Douglas Hoyos.