The opposition Párbeszéd party has called on the government to consult with local councils, professional organisations and civil groups on its post-pandemic recovery plan.
Hungary’s Fiscal Council said the deficit target in the 2021 budget would have to be raised. The government earlier said it would raise the 2021 deficit target, calculated according to European Union accounting rules, from 2.9% to 7.5% of GDP.
Hungary plans to draw 16-17 billion euros from the European Union’s 750 billion euro pandemic recovery fund to fund household solar systems and energy efficient heating systems, a government official told a conference.
The government is granting an additional 30 billion forints support to a scheme to boost competitiveness, the foreign minister said.
Car manufacturers are continuing to bring engineering, development and service facilities to Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said at the inauguration of carmaker Ford’s logistics centre in Biatorbágy, near Budapest.
The Socialist Party will be campaigning in the upcoming opposition primary in favour of making the minimum wage tax-exempt and reducing the income tax for low earners, the party’s co-leader said over the weekend.
Retail sales fell by an annual 5.6% in February, according to unadjusted data, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said.
Consumer price inflation averaged an annual 3.7% in March, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said. Analysts forecast a rise of 3.8%. CPI rose by 0.7% month on month.
Hungary’s cash flow-based budget, excluding local councils, was 1,144.1 billion forints (EUR 3.2bn) at the end of March, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary release of data.
Hungary sees Romania as one of its most important business partners, and has a vested interest in strengthening mutual cooperation, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, said at the opening of a Hungarian-Romanian business forum in Budapest.
