Vienna will not incur any debts in 2020 for the first time. By 2021, They wish to reduce the mountain of debt, said City Councilor Peter Hanke.

Vienna To Become Debt Free

Vienna wants to get a new debt in 2019 – said City Councilor Peter Hanke (SPÖ). He has presented his first budget proposal as head of the department. Accordingly, 188 million euros in debt will come next year. However, by 2020, a zero deficit will be achieved. From 2021, the city wants to repay debt.

The fact that new debt will be taken up again next year “may have little appeal,” Hanke admitted in a conversation: “Debts are debts. “But it was not his claim” to land on the beauty podium at the top”, said the city council, which took over the office in May by Renate Brauner. Rather, it is important to implement a consolidation with a medium-term perspective, so was his argument.

Vienna With A Total Of 7 Billion Euros In Debt

Hanke stressed that the new debt in relation to the total economic performance of the city is only 0.2 percent. Specifically, 2019 revenue of 15.497 billion euros and spending of 15.685 billion euros are provided. The difference results in precisely those 188 million euros, which are added to the already existing debt mountain. This is already a halving of the new debt this year, in which Vienna has raised loans in the amount of 376 million euros. If the 2019 budget estimate is in line with budget implementation, Vienna will thus be in the black at the end of next year with around 7 billion euros.

Zero Deficit For The First Time In 2020

For the time being, the hike should be reached. Because Hanke sticks to the path already taken by Brauner to reach a zero deficit in 2020. “From 2021 debt will then be repaid,” underlined the head of the department. This, of course, is always on condition that the current forecasts in terms of economic growth hold reasonably. In what amount will the annual repayments move, Hanke did not want to answer. To make such statements would not be serious from the current perspective, he said.

What does the city spend its money on? By far the biggest chunk eats health. Striking here is the glaring jump from last 2.17 billion to 4.32 billion euros. This is due to the new structure of the urban hospital operator hospital association as a public institution, which will hit in 2019. As a result, the KAV budget is no longer reported separately, but is reflected in the central budget of the city, said Hanke.

100 new school classes next year

The social sector – which also includes minimum income protection – generates around 2.1 billion euros (plus 8.91 percent). Vienna plans to invest EUR 2.6 billion (plus 7.7 percent) – just under one-third will be provided by Wiener Stadtwerke alone. Further money is spent here, for example, for drinking water supply or for economic development. The city hall can cost 1.75 billion euros (plus 8.25 percent) in education. “We will build more than 100 new school classes in 2019,” the city council cited as an example. Childcare costs 865.44 million euros (plus 2.21 percent).

The figures will be discussed in detail at the Vienna Municipal Council on 26 and 27 November. At the end of the session marathon the official decision of the estimates, which – as in recent years – probably only by the votes of the red-green coalition should take place.

The budget for Blümel “little ambitious”

The Vienna ÖVP leader and Chancellor Gernot Blümel finds the budget estimate of the federal capital for 2019 “little ambitious”. It needs more perseverance and consistency in budget preparation, so that the city of Vienna already in the coming year achieve a zero deficit, as it also intends the federal government, Blümel called on Tuesday evening in a release.

Sources: Viennat.at