Speaking about next year’s budget on Kossuth Rádió on Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Hungary is currently going through a period of prosperity, and in 2017 Hungarians can also take another step forward.

Wages are increasing year on year, unemployment is continuously falling, and at no point in the past twenty-five years have there been as many people in employment as there are today. In addition to this, “we have not achieved this through debt”, and the country has repaid the IMF-EU loan, the Prime Minister said. He also mentioned the reduction of taxes and the rise in the value of pensions.

He also highlighted that, according to European Union statistics, in Hungary in 2013–14 the number of people below the poverty line fell by 600,000. The Prime Minister believes that their number will fall further.

In his words, next year’s budget will be one of tax reductions and home-creation incentives, and “there is also scope for progress in health care and education”.

Speaking about health care, Mr. Orbán said that the pay of doctors and nursing staff must be increased as part of a comprehensive scheme, “within the framework of pay rise decisions over the course of three to four years if possible”. He stated that Hungary must reduce the pay gap between doctors in the West and in Hungary, but he said that he would not dare to say that the gap will be eliminated in the next year or two.

At the same time the Prime Minister believes that there is a chance of reaching an agreement in talks between the Government and the representatives of healthcare professionals.

Mr. Orbán also reported that, during his visit to Germany at the beginning of the week, he met the executives of Mercedes and Deutsche Telekom. He said that Hungary entered into an agreement with the latter that by 2018 there should be one hundred per cent broadband internet access for both businesses and households. “We want to be among the best in this department in Europe. We even want to overtake the Germans, who have similar targets”, he said.

He indicated that VAT in Hungary on internet services will be reduced, and the Government will aim to implement further reductions in the coming years.

(MTI)