Although the Hungarian Government is more optimistic with regard to Hungary’s economic growth, the European Commission and the Government share a similar opinion on the country’s fiscal and financial status, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, following talks with European Commission Vice President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis.
In recent years, Hungary’s fiscal management has been prudent, the state debt ratio has been cut and the budget deficit has been kept below 3 percent of GDP, the Minister pointed out. Hungary has been right, as the fiscal deficit has turned out to be lower than formerly predicted by the European Commission, he added.
Mihály Varga stressed he hoped the Commission could be persuaded that Hungary’s public work scheme is capable of effectively re-orienting programme participants to the primary labour market. The Government also continues the vocational and dual education programmes, he said.
Whereas in 2010 Hungary could not meet any criteria required for the introduction of the Euro, it can now fulfil of them, he noted.
Valdis Dombrovskis emphasised that Hungary has been on the right path. He also stressed the importance of fiscal prudence. Hungary has recorded promising growth rates in the past three years, he added. Although the rate of growth is seen lower this year, at 2.1 percent, this figure is still above the EU average, he said. The reason for the deceleration lies in the fact that the EU funds of the 2007-2014 programming period have already been used and the next period has just begun, the Vice President pointed out. This also shows the significance of EU funds in economic expansion, he noted.
The European Commission advises the reduction of taxes on labour as a pro-growth measure, Valdis Dombrovskis said. Speaking of state projects he said it was important that EU funds are used as supplementary resources to national resources.
(Ministry for National Economy)
