“Hungary has entered a new phase of protection against the epidemic: after protecting people’s health, it is now time to reboot the economy and create new workplaces”, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga declared following the inaugural session of the Economy Protection Operational Group on Tuesday.

“The Group’s primary goal is to set the Hungarian economy onto a growth trajectory, and accordingly it will be identifying and eliminating the administrative regulations and bureaucratic burdens that are hodling back the economy and hindering the functioning of enterprises”, the Minister of Finance highlighted.

“Hungary is among the most successful countries in the European Union with relation to protecting against the virus, thanks to which in June it became possible to lift the state of emergency, which the government replaced with an epidemiological state of preparedness”, the Minister underlined. “The government has allocated 923 billion forints (EUR 2.628 billion) for the Economy Protection Fund this year, and earmarked 2550 billion forints (EUR 7.26 billion) for the Fund for next year”, the Minister added.

“However, the Economy Protection Operational Group has not been formed to distribute the development funding, but to ensure the comprehensive rebooting of the economy”, Mr. Varga highlighted. “In addition to closely monitoring and supervising the implementation of economy protection measures, the body is also receiving and important role with relation to putting forward opinions and proposals. The Cabinet is awaiting concrete recommendations in areas where government intervention is required”, he explained. The Minister asked the members of the Operational Group to cooperate efficiently to, amongst others, eliminate factors that are hindering the functioning of enterprises, citing as examples regulations that are preventing certain investment projects, regulations that are making the distribution of development funding more difficult, and unnecessary administrative burdens.

The Prime Minister has entrusted the Minister of Finance with leading the Economy Protection Operational Group. “The members of the Group include the CEOs of Construction Quality Control Innovation Nonprofit Limited, the Hungarian Investment Agency, National Infocommunications Service Zrt. and the Hungarian Tourism Agency; the presidents of the Hungarian State Treasury, the National Food Chain Safety Office and the National Research Development and Innovation Office, the director responsible for consumer protection, and the state secretary heading the National Tax and Customs Office. Representatives of the Hungarian Competition Authority and Public Procurement Authority, and the Hungarian National Bank’s director for financial consumer protection may also take part in the meetings of the Economy Protection Operational Group in an advisory capacity”, Mr. Varga informed the press.

(Ministry of Finance/MTI)