The 2019 budget serves as a sound foundation for the further strengthening of Hungary, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister told the public service media on Tuesday.

Csaba Dömötör said the parliamentary debate had been concluded, and Parliament may vote on the 2019 budget as soon as next week. The main points of emphasis have not changed: next year’s budget is a budget of safe growth which clearly reflects the government’s main objectives. We would like to enhance security, we would like to give families more support, and we would like to do this against the background of the reduction of taxes and by ensuring meanwhile that everyone who has the intention and ability to do so can find employment, Mr  Dömötör said. He added that these are sound foundations and a good recipe for the further strengthening of Hungary.

He said that if Parliament votes for next year’s budget in its present form, it would provide more support for families as family allowances and benefits amount to some HUF 2,000 billion in the budget, including the fact that the tax allowance of families with two children will increase to HUF 40,000. He said employer taxes will decrease to 17.5 per cent which will enable employers to further increase wages.

He highlighted that more funds will also be allocated to education, health care and defence. Education will have excess funding worth HUF 606 billion, while health care will receive HUF 505 billion more funding compared with 2010, at the time of the left-wing government, he observed.

He pointed out that criteria related to security must also be enforced in the budget because in Europe signs of an economic crisis are multiplying, and therefore the general reserve of the budget will increase by 50 per cent. This is the reason why the government and the government parties did not support motions of the opposition which sought to reduce this budgetary allocation, he added.

(MTI)