Central and Eastern Europe may be EU’s growth engine in the next 10-15 years, but to reach this goal we require a competent situation analysis, adequate responses and immense preparations, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at an international conference entitled “From crisis management to launching economic growth”, organized by the Ministry for National Economy.
The international event commemorates three anniversaries: the introduction of the forint in Hungary 70 years ago, Hungary’s joining of the OECD 20 years ago and the establishment of the Brussels-based Bruegel Institute 10 years ago. This has provided an excellent occasion for a conference to examine the economic situation from various international aspects, the Minister stated.
Among the guests of the conference, Mihály Varga greeted Mr Thomas Steffen, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany; Ms Catherine L Mann, OECD Chief Economist and Head of the Economics Department; Mr Guntram B Wolff, Director of the Bruegel Institute as well as Mr Nikoloz Gilauri, former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Georgia. Among the presenters were Mr Péter Ákos Bod, Professor of Corvinus University, Mr György Szapáry, Senior Advisor to the Governor of the National Bank of Hungary and Mr István Hamecz, CEO of OTP Bank.
In his keynote speech – analysing the Hungarian economy in the post-regime change era -- Mihály Varga called the country’s OECD membership obtained in 1996 a milestone. As he pointed out, the professional expertise provided by the organization had been instrumental for placing the economy on a sustainable path by the end of the 1990s. This, however, has been insufficient without fiscal rigour, the Minister said, referring to the crisis in the second half of the 2000s. The current Government has successfully overcome this and stabilized public finances through fundamentally new, unprecedented as well as traditional instruments. In recent years, the GDP growth rate of the Hungarian economy has often been among the highest within the EU, and in the past four years our employment rate has posted the third largest growth among EU member states. Hungarian economy policy has regained the trust of investors and lenders, and the country saw a major improvement in our credit rating.
Speaking of the post-Brexit era, the Minister said that simmering tensions tend to erupt with shocking speed in a globalized world. This situation, on the other hand, brings not only dangers but also some opportunities for Central and Eastern Europe: entire industries and several companies may decide to leave their London headquarters and resettle in the countries of the region.
Seeing good results, he added, does not permit us to rest on our laurels; the Hungarian economy is facing new challenges. The Ministry for National Economy has been busy preparing a plan to maintain the existing growth momentum, and this conference may provide some ideas to face up to this challenge.
(Ministry for National Economy)
