On the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual conference, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga held talks with the leaders of several international financial institutions and representatives of investor groups.

Among others, the Minister met with World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Cyril Muller to overview current issues concerning Hungary and the World Bank as well as to discuss the international migration situation. Mihály Varga emphasised that this is not a solely Hungarian or EU issue. Cooperation with sender and transit countries must be tightened in order to combat the root causes of and mitigate problems triggered by migration. It is of special significance that the international community must provide meaningful and effective help on the borders of crisis-ridden territories and expand the refugee aid, migration and border control capacities of transit countries. All these require massive financial resources, and the Minister requested the support of the World Bank as an international development policy institution with extensive expertise in this regard.

The Minister also held a presentation at an investor conference organized by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he outlined key points of Hungary’s economic development and the country’s growth outlook.

During these meetings, it has turned out that the expectations of various institutions are basically in line with and thus confirm Government prognoses concerning Hungary’s economic outlook. Some days ago the IMF revised upward its former GDP growth of estimate for Hungary by 0.3 percentage points to 3.0 percent for this year and, concerning 2016, from 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent.

Invited by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank Group President Jim Kim, Mihály Varga participated at a closed, ministerial-level dinner where safety and sustainability within the global food industry as well as related topics were discussed.

(Ministry for National Economy)