Public finances

The global financial crisis led to a significant deterioration in public finances, with the situation beginning to improve only after 2015. The exceptional health and economic circumstances caused by the COVID-19 epidemic led to a renewed general government deficit and an increase in public debt in 2020, as the government assumed much of the financial burden of mitigating the impact of the epidemic through extensive support measures. Public finances improved again in 2021 and 2022. Today, short-term challenges are increasingly intertwined with longer-term challenges related to the green and digital transformation and population ageing. These will have important implications for public finances, particularly in terms of striking an appropriate balance between their stabilisation and development functions.