The government completed the acquisition of Budapest Airport

HUNGARY - In Brief 07 Jun 2024 by Istvan Racz
Just as expected, the government has acquired a majority stake in Budapest Airport, the Economy Ministry announced yesterday. They bought an 80% stake for €3.1bn (HUF965bn or 1.2% of GDP), the rest purchased by the French airport management company Vinci Airports. Analysts commenting on the deal so far remained somewhat unsure about why this acquisition was made by the government. The official explanation is that owning the country's far most important airport is a matter of "national strategy". Otherwise, the airport is reasonably profitable, with its turnover figures increasing. Anyway, the acquisition (the government's part) will show up as a negative FDI item on the BOP, as the stake is bought from the foreign consortium of AviAlliance, GIC and CDPQ. Regarding its consequences on the budget, it will not affect the main fiscal deficit (the one put together on accrual basis, following Eurostat methodology), but it will affect the net debt ratio. Previously, the government sold assets worth HUF270bn to finance part of the airport deal, and they said that their heavy issuance of FX bonds in January this year was also carried out with a view to collecting the cash required to complete this acquisition. 

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