The “Upper Austria Plan”, a five-year state investment package totaling EUR 1.2 billion, was an appropriate economic policy tool for the Court of Auditors (LRH). As it is externally financed and the situation has since improved, one must now be “very careful” not to promote inflation-driven investment, recommends LRH director Friedrich Pammer after the unsolicited review of the 2021 accounts.
The state budget in 2021 was shaped by the pandemic, the ensuing economic slump and the faster-than-expected recovery, Pammer summed up the terms and conditions. The reduced income from the revenue shares was less bad than expected at EUR 352.6 million instead of EUR 530.3 million, but the state provided an additional EUR 191.2 million from the “Upper Austria Plan” and the religious hospitals an additional 279.7 million euros available for early loan repayment. The net financing balance amounted to minus 430.1 million euros. Although that is more than in 2020 (minus EUR 336.1 million), without the early payment to hospitals, the deficit would have been significantly lower (minus EUR 150.4 million) than the previous year.
Savings interest and money injection too low
Debt has risen sharply: the financial debt more than doubled in 2021 to almost 1.2 billion euros. If one also includes outsourced debt in investment companies and special financing, the financial liabilities of the state in 2021 will amount to 3.13 billion euros, according to the accountants. The savings rate of 5.2 percent and the free financial peak of €324.5 million or 4.8 percent are too low to avoid further new loans and deleveraging with the same investment and subsidy policy, Pammer warned. The aim should be to increase the savings rate to 15 percent and the free financial top back to ten percent.
FPÖ calls for rapid debt reduction
For FPÖ club president Herwig Mahr, the LRH report shows that you are on the right track. “It is clear that the country should not hesitate to lend support against the ongoing price increases.” However, as soon as the situation permits, one should return to deleveraging again.
Withdraw transfer balance
SPÖ club chairman Michael Lindner criticizes that the transfer balance at the expense of the municipalities “has been tightened again by no less than 75.6 million euros to an unprecedented record amount of 382 million euros”. As EUR 140 million has been transferred from Upper Austria’s plan from the previous year to 2022, he sees room to relieve “inflation-plagued compatriots”.
Source: Krone
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