On 28 February 2021, the Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, presented the situation of public finances to the deputies of the Finance and Budget Committee and the Committee for the Control of Budget Execution of the Chamber of Deputies.
It was noted that the public finance situation in 2021 is slightly more reassuring than last year. In fact, the revenues show a total of 3.4 billion euros, an increase of +3.8% compared to the same period last year.
The increase in revenues exceeds with +3.8% that of expenditure (+1.6%) so that the deficit of public finances after two months is -117 million euros, which is lower than the negative balance observed in February 2020 which amounted to -189 million euros.
The Minister of Finance noted that this is all the more comforting as the first two months of 2020 are the only ones that were spared by the pandemic and thus offer the possibility of a valuable comparison. Pierre Gramegna commented: “The positive scissor effect between revenues and expenditures is an indicator of the economic recovery that is slowly but surely taking shape. This is becoming increasingly apparent in the light of the fact that, according to the latest Statec estimates, the fall in GDP in Luxembourg will be limited to -1.3% in 2020, one of the best results in the European Union. These initial encouraging figures should not, however, mask the uncertainties about the evolution of the pandemic in the coming months and encourage us to be vigilant in the execution of the budget.
