- Hamburg records unprecedented earnings of €3.3 billion.
Last year, Hamburg, a self-governing city known as the Free and Hanseatic City, managed to record its biggest annual surplus ever, even amidst various challenges and crises. As per the Finance Senator Andreas Dressel (SPD), the city accomplished a "net annual result" of almost 3.3 billion euros, as stated in the Senate-approved business report released on Tuesday. Contrarily, the year 2022 saw a mere 28 million euros as the result.
In Dressel's words, "Hamburg can put a positive spin on the 2023 financial and business year with record surpluses in investments, debt repayment, and net annual results, despite challenging circumstances." The key contributors to this financial success story were Hapag-Lloyd dividends, worth approximately 1.5 billion euros, and adjustments in the tax trend procedure. Around 2.5 billion euros from this surplus could be added to the general reserve.
The city also broke records in investments and debt repayments. Excluding its municipal holdings, Hamburg invest roughly 1.9 billion euros - a significant increase from the 1.3 billion euros in 2022. Including subsidiaries, the total investment stood at around 5.3 billion euros, channeled towards initiatives like school and housing construction, transport, energy, and social infrastructure.
New loans amounting to 291 million euros were taken out, with a limit of nearly 2.7 billion euros. Simultaneously, COVID-19 loans totalling around 483 million euros were paid back earlier and in full. Altogether, debts to the tune of nearly 2.5 billion euros were paid off, reducing the core administration deficit from approximately 25.12 billion euros in 2022 to 22.67 billion euros in the preceding year.
The record-breaking surplus was presented to the Senate for approval, highlighting Hamburg's financial success. Despite the challenges, the Senate anticipated further positive outcomes in investments, debt repayment, and annual net results for the upcoming year.
