Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga and EC Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor Navracsics discussed the European Commission’s Country Report on Hungary published at the end of February. As Mihály Varga said, the Report is much more balanced and objective than that of 2016.

The European Commission each year examines in detail the plans of EU member states on fiscal, macro-economic and structural reforms, and it formulates recommendations for every country in the month of May. As a member of the European Commission, Tibor Navracsics had initiated a meeting with Mihály Varga to discuss Hungary’s policies before the date when national reform programmes are scheduled to be submitted to the EC.

Having assessed the recommendations of the Country Report, the two politicians agreed that the current study was more upbeat than previous ones, it acknowledged a general economic progress, falling fiscal deficit and central government debt figures, and it also voiced a positive opinion on the significant lowering of the bank tax rate.

Among Government measures aiming to improve Hungary’s economic vulnerability, the Report highlights the phasing-out of the entire stock of forex household loans, which measure has removed a huge systemic risk factor through the forint conversion of these loans.

In the analysis of employment growth, the paper concludes that the unemployment rate and long-term jobless indicators have improved parallel to increasing economic activity, Mihály Varga pointed out.

The two politicians discussed major steps to be taken until the closure of the European semester in July 2016.

Mihály Varga also informed Tibor Navracsics that – following the approval of the Fiscal Council and the parliament – the Hungarian Government was about to forward the Convergence Programme and the National Reform Programme to the European Commission this week.

(Ministry for National Economy)