Compared with its former assessments, the European Commission offers a much more balanced evaluation of the state of the Hungarian economy and the Hungarian reforms in its report published today. The Commission perceives a number of changes in a positive light, and lays particular emphasis on the improvement of the general state of the economy.

In line with its practice of several years now, the European Commission has published today its country reports evaluating the economic state and economic reform measures of the Member States. According to the country report released as part of the European Semester which is designed to evaluate the implementation of the earlier country-specific recommendations and macroeconomic imbalances, the improvement of the general state of the economy, the decreasing deficit of the budget and the decreasing sovereign debt are all positive achievements. The report also makes mention of the significant reduction of the bank levy in a favourable tone.

Among the measures adopted by the Government with a view to reducing the country’s external vulnerability, the report speaks highly of the removal of household foreign currency mortgage loans which has reduced, by virtue of their conversion into forints, a major systemic risk. Additionally, the report covers the increased employment figures, the fall in unemployment parallel with an increased rate of activity, and the decline in long-term unemployment. The Commission appreciates the progress made by Hungary in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and in the utilisation of renewable energy sources.

The Commission does not call the legitimacy of the public employment scheme into question for the first time in its current report.

In the next few months the Commission will discuss the contents of the reports with the Member States in in multiple stages, and will outline economic policy recommendations at the end of a series of professional dialogues in June. The country-specific recommendations will be approved by the Council.

(Ministry for National Economy)