ÖVP attacks Vienna debt figures as SPÖ rejects criticism

Vienna’s branch of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) has criticised the city’s debt levels, saying new budget data show it is performing far worse than other provinces, ORF reported. The governing Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) rejected the claim, accusing the ÖVP of deliberately presenting Vienna’s finances in a negative light.

The ÖVP held a news conference on Monday after Statistics Austria published data submitted by the provinces under the stability pact. ÖVP parliamentary group leader Harald Zierfuß said Vienna was “18 times worse off than all the other provinces combined”.

Zierfuß plans to submit an urgent inquiry to Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ). He wants Ludwig to comment on the latest budget figures and planned measures to consolidate Vienna’s finances.

Vienna recorded a negative net financing balance of about 1.115 billion euros in the first half of 2026, according to the ÖVP. All nine provinces combined recorded a deficit of about 1.177 billion euros. ÖVP finance spokesman Hannes Taborsky said Vienna’s deficit had improved, but that there was no sign of sustainable consolidation. He said about 99 percent of the improvement came from higher revenues, while ongoing expenditure continued to rise.

Vienna’s finance councillor Barbara Novak (SPÖ) rejected the criticism. She said the ÖVP was using “fantasy figures” to generate headlines and was deliberately comparing figures that could not be compared. Vienna is both a province and a municipality, she said, while municipal debt is significantly higher than debt at provincial level and is not included for the other provinces.

The ÖVP rejected that argument. Although current municipal figures are not yet available, it said using the previous year’s deficits would still leave Vienna responsible for about 80 percent of the negative balance recorded by all provinces and municipalities.