Deputy State Secretary for Development Policy Nándor Csepreghy has announced that funding in the first three priorities of the Economic Development Operational Programme has been resumed, following the European Commission’s decision to lift the five-month-long suspension of disbursement. He added that in the next few weeks development funds of approximately HUF 210 billion will be allocated to Hungary. The EU is expected to make the payment at the beginning of October, thus the funds may arrive within weeks, he said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka took the view that preserving the cooperation and unity of the V4, the Visegrád Member States (in addition to Hungary and the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland), is essential in the interest of the management of the migration crisis, Bertalan Havasi, chief of the Prime Minister’s Press Office told the Hungarian News Agency MTI regarding the meeting of the two Prime Ministers held on Tuesday in New York.
The migration crisis was the main topic of the meeting of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt, held on Tuesday at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Minister of State for Churches, National Minorities and Civil Affairs Miklós Soltész has said that at the Tuesday meeting of the Charity Council, Hungarian charity organisations discussed migration, the role which should be played by the National Conference of Student Associations (HÖOK) and the situation in Transcarpathia.
At the Hungarian-Serbian Business Forum in Subotica, Minister of State for Economic Diplomacy Levente Magyar announced that Hungarian National Trading Houses in Subotica and Novi Sad will be able to start operations within a few weeks, and in the near future EXIM Bank will open an office in Belgrade.
János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office paid a visit to Brussels on 29 September 2015. During the course of his visit, he had talks with Dominique Ristori, head of the Directorate-General for Energy within the European Commission.
The latest statistical data are confirming the adequacy of the Government’s economic policy: the employment rate has reached the highest level since the regime change, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at the ceremonial presentation of the Awards for Successful Enterprises in the month of September.
According to the latest report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the number of people in employment has been above the 4 million mark for more than 18 months in Hungary. In the period June-August 2015, the number of people aged 15-74 years in employment rose by 134 thousand, to 4 million 251 thousand, compared to the same period of the previous year. It has been the highest figure recorded since the regime change in 1990. Unemployment also continued to improve: the current rate of 6.7 percent is the best result in ten years.
As Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, the Government began consultations concerning the diesel scandal already last week. There is, for the time being, no visible fallout from the issue, but declining car sales in Europe would “affect 0.3-0.6 percent of Hungary’s economic performance,” the Minister added.
The refurbishment of the Dobó Square in Eger, completed through EU funding of some HUF 4bn, is a good example of the Government’s productive efforts and a major milestone in the everyday life and history of the city, the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Eger, Minister of State for the Utilization of EU Funding Balázs Rákossy said at the opening ceremony of the renewed city centre.