Budgets for Holy See, Vatican City show small net surplus for 2013
July 08, 2014
The Holy See showed a budget deficit of €24 million ($33 million) for the 2013 fiscal year, while the Vatican city-state, which operates on its own budget, ran a surplus of €33 million ($45 million ), the Vatican has disclosed.
The Holy See had run a small (€2 million) surplus for the 2012 fiscal year, attributing that positive balance to “good performance in financial management.” The deficit in 2013 was caused by decline in the Vatican’s investment portfolio, “principally to negative fluctuations deriving from the valuation of gold.” In presenting the budget figures, the Vatican noted that the financial statements were based on conservative accounting principles.
The €33 million surplus for the Governorate of Vatican City, on the other hand, represents a €10 million increase from the previous year’s figure. The Vatican pointed out that when combined, the 2013 figures for the Holy See and Vatican city showed a net €9 million surplus.
The budget for the Holy See covers the offices of the Roman Curia, and by far the largest category of expense is for personnel: salary and benefits for nearly 2,900 employees. The Holy See has no major source of revenues apart from contributions. The contributions from dioceses around the world in 2013 amounted to €22 million, essentially unchanged from the 2012 figure.
The budgets and financial statements for both the Holy See and the Vatican City governorate were presented to, and approved by, the newly created Council for the Economy at a meeting on July 5.
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