Hungary has been a member and an equal partner of the International Monetary Fund, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, following the annual joint session of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.

As the Minister pointed out, although the Government did use IMF loans to turn the economy around, they did it in a way other than the one recommended by the institution. The achievements of reforms have been acknowledged by the IMF, and loans taken out by former Governments have been repaid ahead of schedule.

At investor meetings, Mihály Varga added that since the positive trend reversal in 2013 the Hungarian economy has gained 3 percent of GDP on average each year. However, the expansion has not led to external or internal imbalances as faster growth was not driven by new loans. The number of people in employment has reached a 26-year high and the unemployment rate fell over the past six years from 12 percent to below 5 percent. Since the new Government came to office in 2010, the number of jobs rose by 667 thousand, two-thirds of which were created within the private sector.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde stressed that global economic growth continued to be below the expected level, therefore trade relations must be fortified and regulatory reforms required for market liberalization must be extended to cover the new digital economy.

(Ministry for National Economy)