After almost a two-month break, government information is being held again. He last appeared in public on February 16 with Gergely Gulyás, then government spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi.
There has never been such government information before: three ministers and the new spokesperson appeared before the public at the same time / Photo: Zoltán Balogh / MTI
He has since left due to his mayoral campaign, and was replaced by Eszter Vitályos, who made his debut in this capacity today. Gergely Gulyás underwent spine surgery and has only just returned. He was not the only one who came to the government briefing: Minister of Finance Mihály Varga and Minister of Agriculture István Nagy also appeared.
An important announcement was made about next year’s budget
The line was started by the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office. Gergely Gulyás announced that the government will wait for the results of the American presidential elections and
it only submits next year’s budget, i.e. the 2025 budget, in November.
This is a far-reaching decision, since until now it was said that this would happen already in the spring. The details were told by Mihály Varga. He emphasized that we are in a war situation, and the EU will have a harder time getting out of the crisis. Germany is one of the most important actors, it has been sick for a long time, it is not known how long. Therefore, the macro track was designed for a war situation. “The situation is constantly changing, the political environment has moved in the direction of war escalation. The Hungarian household must also react to this.”
By planning the spring budget, they were able to forecast the key figures of the budget much more accurately. This is shown by the fact that the average deficit during the economic boom was 2.6 percent, while before 2010, with the autumn planning, it was 6.9 percent. He doesn’t see ahead, so he can’t say if they will return to the original schedule next year.
The government does not want to deviate from the set macro path, but it cannot be blind to the changes in the world either. The outcome in America in the fall is decisive. “Hungary does not have to fear a change of president. During the period of Donald Trump, our relations improved, after which the institution of double taxation was terminated.”
The government is postponing investments worth hundreds of billions
Last year, this year’s economic growth was established by creating and breaking the external balance: household consumption may increase by 2.3 percent in 2024. The government calculates that the increase will take place in 2024, it could be around 2.5 percent. With this, we can be at the forefront of the EU. Acceleration of growth is expected in the second half of the year, and a GDP increase of 4.1 percent is expected next year.
With this year’s budget, the deficit of the public finances will be reduced to 4.5 percent, next year it will be 3.7 percent, and in 2026 it will be 2.9 percent. There will be extraordinary expenses, first and foremost are interest expenses.
The deficit can be reduced by postponing HUF 675 billion in investments.
They will not be deleted, but will be implemented later. This year, they will still invest about HUF 2,000 billion. Regarding the deferred investments, the Ministry of Finance formulated proposals, but only regarding the framework amounts. Basically, the ministries designated exactly which projects are involved, and the decision affects hundreds. Another intervention of this magnitude is not planned this year.
With the EU reform of economic governance, it is worth waiting for the development of the war situation. The detailed rules are not yet known, but they will affect the accounting of defense expenditures, which gives a weight of 2 percent from a Hungarian point of view. Since December, more than HUF 550 billion in EU funds have arrived in Hungary.
“In summary: we will bring the budget to a more stable and sustainable situation, while the results achieved so far must not be abandoned,” concluded the finance minister’s statement. The HUF 1,700 billion budget for defense industry developments remains.
We have the money to buy the Ferihegy airport
This year’s deficit of the public finances approached 92.8 percent of the annual target by March (but this is compared to the 2.9 percent deficit). The new deficit target is 4.5 percent, which could be HUF 4,000 billion for the whole year. In response to a journalist’s question, he said that the development of the deficit so far is thrown by one-off items. It includes HUF 2,100 billion in interest, which was transferred in the first quarter. As with the pension payments, this happened in February. The third line is the purchase of the airport, the funds for which were provided by the budget in the first quarter. However, this does not increase the accrual deficit.
Call it good news the latest inflation data, this is the basis for the upswing in consumption. He touched on fuel prices separately, saying that it depends on the negotiations between Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy and the leaders of Mol whether the state deals with any intervention.
He confirmed that they are counting on 391 HUF euros in 2024. In March, he met with the Governor of the Central Bank, György Matolcsy, at which time there was talk of amending the Central Bank Act. This will also be reviewed at the next meeting.
All suggestions from Brussels, including the introduction of new taxes, are primarily a matter of consideration by the nation-state. So far, Hungary has only received an advance from the source to which it contributed as a guarantor, therefore any similar, future plans of this kind require great caution – he answered this by asking whether Hungary would support its EU war output.
Subsidy dumping begins for farmers
István Nagy also gave a report. The Hungarian government – the only one in the EU – assigned 80 percent funding to agriculture. He spoke about the fact that Brussels opened the EU borders to Ukrainian products. About the details of this we wrote in this article.
Brussels betrayed the Hungarian farmers and instead supports the Ukrainian oligarchs
he said. In such a situation, government assistance becomes more valuable. Therefore, they decided on a five-point package of measures. (These are summarized in detail in this article.)
Under all circumstances, Hungary maintains the Ukrainian border closure, which covers 24 products. He expects the EU to challenge this because it is a trade policy EU competence. The Hungarian inspection system is advanced, this is the guarantee that such products cannot be sold in Hungary. The main problem of the Hungarian honey market is the EU’s Chinese imports. Artificial honey, industrially produced honey, comes in very cheaply from China.
This rate has increased by 80 percent recently.
They want to sell 20,000 to 25,000 tons of honey on the EU market, but this is not possible due to Chinese and Ukrainian dumping. The price is so low that it doesn’t even cover the cost. Therefore, the producers either keep the honey in stock or carry out forced sales. At home, Chinese artificial honey cannot be placed on the shelves. Anyone who tries to do so will be punished. They recommend that consumers buy honey directly from producers.
He also talked about the fact that there is not enough precipitation, so if they reach last year’s value in agricultural production, they will be satisfied.
When will the details of the new home improvement program be released?
Eszter Vitályos informed about the new home renovation program. As is well known, the new scheme will be published with a budget of HUF 108 billion. The amount of the contribution can be no more than HUF 6 million, this is partially interest-free and non-refundable support. The call for tenders will appear soon, the government’s side should be monitored in this regard. No exact date has been announced, only that it is due in the spring.
He did not rule out the possibility of a call for tenders for condominiums, but basically the goal is to switch to green energy.
It was clarified: Hungarian money will not be used for Ukrainian weapons
Gergely Gulyás clarified that the Hungarian contribution to the EU peace framework was only possible if the Hungarian government stipulated in advance that weapons could not be purchased from these sources. This This is also the case with NATO’s offers. Hungarian funding for Ukraine can be used, for example, for medical equipment.
