MPs have adopted the 2015 Budget that aims to strengthen families, create jobs and stimulate economic growth, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said.
The Parliament approved the full-year headline amount of revenues and expenditures at HUF 16 312bn 873 million and HUF 17 190bn 277 million, respectively, within the central sub system of the state budget in 2015. The fiscal deficit is expected to total HUF 877bn 404 million.
The Minister emphasised that the budget remedies the problem of foreign currency borrowers and it will preserve achievements realized thus far. He stressed that the assistance of families will be again in the focus of the budget next year. Thanks to the family tax allowance scheme, HUF 240bn will be left at families, while as of 2016 the tax break for parents with two children will be gradually doubled – over four years – from HUF 10 thousand per child to HUF 20 thousand.
The Government promotes marriages also through tax incentives, as couples tying the knot for the first time will be entitled to a tax break of HUF 5000 per month or HUF 60 thousand per year. The childcare benefit extra will be kept in place, as the measure has proven that it can stimulate the propensity to have children and the employment of mothers with small children, he added.
As of July 2015, new state housing programmes will be launched with two new key elements: people with one child will also be eligible to receiving support not only for purchasing or building a new home, but for the purchasing of a used home or the extension of an existing one. In addition to this, through banking compensation some 1000bn will be refunded to Hungarian families and monthly instalments are expected to be lower by as much as 25-30 percent.
The Minister pointed out that next year the Government provides the option of public work for more people, as it spends some HUF 270bn on this programme, up by HUF 35bn compared to this year. Employment stimulating measures will also continue, among them the Job Protection Action Plan. A higher tax break will be provided for the employment of parents with small children in a part-time job.
Mihály Varga said that wage hikes will resume: some HUF 44bn is earmarked in the budget for increasing the wages of armed forces and law enforcement in 2015, while some HUF 39 is allocated for the higher wages of teachers. The career model for armed forces and law enforcement will be launched next year with a 30 percent wage hike in 2015, and subsequent annual increases of 5 percent that will total 50 percent by 2019.
The healthcare sector will also receive more funding and bolstering the GP system will be a key priority, the Minister continued. The “Women 40” scheme will also continue: this enables women with 40 years in employment to retire.
Minister of State for the Budget Péter Benő Banai stated that the National Assembly has adopted a stable budget that can enable wage hikes and the assistance of families, while fiscal deficit and state debt may fall further in 2015.
He added that MPs have tabled several amendments to the draft budget bill. Among these he singled out the proposal to earmark HUF 3bn as extra funding for bolstering Hungarian enterprises which mainly produce for the domestic market and the recommendation to uphold in 2015 the 100 percent wage supplement for teachers of civil foundations.
He also said that in comparison to the original draft, in the final version the amount of social benefit-related spending was raised by HUF 13bn. Next year the benefit-allocation system will be transformed: the tasks of the state and local governments will change, but the state will continue to provide for everybody, Péter Benő Banai stressed.
(Ministry for National Economy)
