The government intends to maintain the epidemiological preparedness and at the same time foster economic growth with the budget of 2021 – the Minister of Finance said on the Sunday Paper show of Kossuth Rádió.

Mihály Varga called economy protection measures indispensably important, without which – in his opinion --  we cannot expect substantive economic growth, similarly to the situation in the 2000’s when the Hungarian economy was merely stagnating despite the European economic upturn. He also added that the 2021 budget - which was adopted on Friday - expects a 4.8 per cent economic growth rate, with a public finance deficit of 3 per cent and the national debt below 70 per cent of GDP. The Minister of Finance stated that economic growth would enable the state to spend more on public safety, education, health care and still provide sufficient sources for the containment of virus. Mihály Varga emphasized that the government was still highly committed when it comes to supporting families, the raising of children and the caring for the elderly. He said that this year’s birth and marriage data were promising and stand as proof of the success of the government’s family policy measures. Mihály Varga also mentioned further steps in this field, for instance the rise of the infant-care allowance, the additional development of child-diabetes centres and the support of school guards.

(Ministry of Finance/Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)