Budget shortfall doubled

Why Vienna is almost four billion euros short this year

After the meeting of the Finance Committee, the waves ran high - Vienna's deficit could be significantly higher.

(Bild: ©adisa - stock.adobe.com)

And yet another budget gap has opened up. This time the Vienna Finance Committee is in an uproar - in an election year of all times. This is because the federal capital could also be threatened with a severe austerity package. 

The City of Vienna has already reckoned with a large deficit in its budget for this year - 2.2 billion euros. Now City Councillor for Finance Peter Hanke (SPÖ) himself warned of an even larger deficit in the Finance Committee. Up to 3.8 billion euros could ultimately be missing from the city's coffers. According to information available to "Krone", inflation and increased personnel costs in particular are tearing a hole in the city's financial cushion.

Saving without damaging the economy
The ÖVP is therefore urgently calling for countermeasures without stifling economic growth. The People's Party has in mind a reform of the minimum income or an administration. Last year, for example, the minimum benefit had to be increased from just under 900 million euros to 1.1 billion euros. For 2025, 1.1 billion euros have been budgeted for social welfare. But here too - as of October 2024 - another increase of around 113 million euros is needed.

"No more time must be lost on the reform. The city government must now take the right steps and finally get Vienna's financial situation in order," said VP Club Chairman Markus Wölbitsch and Finance Spokesman Manfred Juraczka.

City takes federal government to task
Hanke passes the ball back to the federal government. "The ÖVP in particular, which is responsible for the biggest budget deficit in the history of the Republic with its 'whatever it takes' policy and its former Finance Minister Magnus Brunner, is now criticizing this. This is political child abandonment at a high level," says Hanke. 

Many sweeteners without counter-financing
The federal government is primarily responsible for the difficult financial situation of the federal states. The federal government had implemented many relief measures without counter-financing. As a result of the eco-social tax reform and in particular the abolition of cold progression, the federal states now have 880 million euros less at their disposal for budgeting. This results in an immense additional burden that the provinces have to shoulder.

Strong social safety net in Vienna
Hanke also immediately rejects the ÖVP plans. Hanke: "For the state of Vienna, however, there is no question that important areas such as healthcare, care and the social safety net can be financed despite the difficult economic times." Vienna is well positioned. From today's perspective, an increase in the deficit to 3.8 billion euros cannot be ruled out - but it is still too early for a final calculation.