“Some 4400 billion forints (EUR 12.43 billion) in investment has been realised and is still ongoing in Hungary’s major cities thanks to funding from the government”, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga declared at the general assembly of cities with county rights. “The government will be continuing the Modern Cities Program next year; the 2021 budget is providing the 50 billion forints (EUR 141.2 million) earmarked for this purpose”, the Minister highlighted.

“Cities with county rights have always had significant weight in the life of the country, while the Hungarian government is providing a good foundation for the development of these cities, and it is therefore important for there to be continuous cooperation between the government and municipalities”, Mr. Varga declared.

As he explained: “The Hungarian economy was in a better state when it was hit by the crisis than it was in 2008, and both cities and villages played a major role in this. We were able to spend 20 percent of the country’s gross national product on economic protection tasks rapidly and without significant risk because we have seven years of continuous economic growth behind us, to which the whole country contributed, including rural settlements”.

The Minister pointed out that the Modern Cities Program, launched in the interests of the further development of cities, is funding a total of 270 projects in 23 cities with county rights, and the total volume of investment is 4000 billion forints (EUR 11.3 billion), the majority of which is domestic funding.
The Program will be continuing next year with a budget of 50 billion forints, and a total of over 1800 billion forints (EUR 5.1 billion) in domestic and EU funding has been injected into these settlements to date during the realisation of these development projects.

Mr. Varga also said that the government will again be running a separate program next year to fund local government investment projects. All tenders within the framework of the Area and Settlement Development Operational Program are funding the own development ideas of counties and cities with county rights, with particular emphasis on job creation and reinforcing the local economy.

Cities with county rights have submitted a total of 950 applications for funding so far within the framework of the Program, at a total value of 426 billion forints (EUR 1.2 billion).

(Ministry of Finance/MTI)