“The EU has not only ruined it immigration policy, but also its economic policy”, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said on Kossuth Radio’s “Sunday Paper” show.

“The British economy, one of the largest in the EU, is exiting the integration. And the slowdown of the Western European economy, and particularly the German economy, is a problem because the Hungarian economy is dependent on them; three quarters of Hungarian export-import is aimed there”, he explained, adding: “In the long term, the slowdown of the Western European economy will lead to the slowdown of Central Europe”.

According to the Minister of Finance’s evaluation, however, the Hungarian economy is in a good state, with third quarter growth at 5 percent, which is three times the European Union average, placing it on the podium throughout the whole European Union.

“In 2020, the task of the Hungarian government is the protection of the Hungarian economy, and of Hungarian workplaces and enterprises. Tax cuts lie behind the growth of the Hungarian economy. For instance, the most important tax on employment, the social contribution tax, was reduced by one third from 27 percent to 17.5 percent between 2016 and 2019. This meant 2600 billion forints (EUR 7.76 billion) extra for Hungarian enterprises, from which they were able to finance wage increases without having to sacrifice any of their competitiveness. Next year, small business tax (KIVA) will be reduced from 13 percent to 12 percent. The essence of the itemised tax for small entrepreneurs (KATA) will remain, but the government plans to take action against the fact that increasing numbers of employers are forcing their employees into this form of taxation”, the Finance Minister explained.

“In view of the fact that following 2020 the Hungarian economy is expected to grow at a somewhat slower rate than it did this year, there may be a realistic chance of further reducing personal income tax following 2020”, he added.

With relation to EU funding, the Finance Minister stressed: “Hungary has not lost any funding to date; there are disputes with the European Commission, as is also the case with respect to many other countries”.

With relation to VAT on apartments, which is scheduled to be increased to 27 percent next year, Mr. Varga pointed out that propertied are overprices in major cities, and especially Budapest, but the increase in prices will slowly come to a stop.

On the subject of the planned athletics stadium, the Minister noted: “The economy needs investment projects, and it would be a pity if the construction of the stadium were to be cancelled”.

(MTI)