2023: Budget of over €2 billion

As with its 2022 amendment, Monaco has a record 2023 initial budget of €2 billion.

However, this is no time to be naive. Before the majority adoption of the initial 2023 budget on 15 December 2022, the Minister of State, Pierre Dartout, warned: «The Russian-Ukrainian conflict continues and reinforces the inflationary trend already observed since the Covid-19 pandemic […] Monaco, despite its great capacity for resilience, is not isolated from the rest of the world. The recession announced for 2023, particularly in Europe, is sure to affect us.

A surplus of €9.1 million
This provisional budget nevertheless expects a provisional revenue surplus of €9.1 million, with revenue estimated at €2.03 billion (up by + 7.5% compared to that of the initial 2022 budget) and forecasts of expenses amounting to €2.0213 million (ie + €135 million). Where does this increase come from? On the revenue side, it is largely linked to the increase in tax revenue (+ €233 million) in view of the recovery in economic activity and the impact of the Principality’s major real estate projects (with + €61 million in real estate VAT receipts). Proof that real estate is king in Monaco, the offshore extension brought in €100 million (thanks to the fourth installment of the payment) and the real estate rights linked to population density projects, some €15 million. At the same time, the appropriations allocated to equipment and investment expenditure have been revised upwards (+€82.5 million), in particular due to registrations dedicated to the National Housing Plan for Monégasques (€236.6 million excluding materialisation of exchange*). Other significant expenditure: the Ilot Charles III (+ €24 million); the extension of the Grimaldi Forum (+ €28.8 million); the elevation of the building of the police headquarters (+ €12.3 million); and the deposit account dedicated to the construction of the Waste Treatment and Recovery Centre.
Whilst staff costs are also on the rise (+ €33.6 million), public interventions have increased further (+ €92 million), due in particular to the entry of sums dedicated to the new television channel, MCRTV, the launch of which is expected in autumn 2023 (+ €22.8 million). The implementation of the Ségur Healthcare Round Table, the continuation of the Blue Fund, as well as the registration of + €12.4 million for motor sports events (probably linked to the Grand Prix) and + €7 million for the tariff shield intended to cushion and smooth the rise in electricity supply costs, all also necessarily impacted the 2023 Budget.

€300 million revenue in 1985
«Expenditure has increased almost at the same rate as revenue and we must be careful to control it,» said the Minister of State. As rapporteur Balthazar Seydoux noted: “Since 2018, the volume of the budget has increased by almost 65%!” According to IMSEE, in 1985 receipts barely touched the €300 million mark and expenditure was limited to €235 million. Revenue and expenditure simultaneously crossed the €1 billion mark in 2014 and, thereafter, €2 billion in 2022.

*The Monégasque state has made a huge change in its accounting: «Registrations of €206 million in 2022 and €84 million in 2023 have been exceptionally made in receipts in order to materialise the exchange corresponding to the value of the volume and the building rights sold to the promoter of the Testimonio II operation for the private part, in exchange for the construction of the first tower (€206 million) and the International School (€84 million).”