Follow Us

Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on LinkedIn
 

09 November 2012

Hungarian Minister of State Cséfalvay: Arguments are just presented in this phase of IMF-EU credit negotiations


Minister of State Zoltán Cséfalvay from the Ministry for National Economy said that until recently no accord could be reached on the amount or type of IMF-EU credit line at negotiations held with the IMF and the European Commission; currently the viewpoints of the parties are being tabled.

The Minister of State stressed that the Hungarian side has presented its views “relatively clearly”, expressing even “with a billboard campaign” to what lengths the Government is willing to go during the meetings. Among others, he emphasised that cutting old age pensions and modifying the flat rate personal income tax are entirely ruled out.

The Government expects a safety net by concluding an agreement with the EU and the IMF, which would result in lower yields of government securities and greater stability, but it would be “no cure-all”. Coming to an agreement would not solve all outstanding issues, there would still be much to do, among others in the fields of stimulating investments, employment, tertiary education or the system of local governments, he added.

Speaking about the Forecast of the European Commission published on Wednesday, he stressed the report has proven that Hungary had “done its homework” regarding deficit and debt reduction. The general government debt-to-GDP ratio will remain below the “magic 3 per cent” margin this year and next, and with regard to cutting general government debt, Hungary was one of only three countries out of the EU 27 which have significantly decreased their debt burdens. In the period of 2010-2014, general government debt as a percentage of GDP will decline by 5 percentage points, he stated.

Full press release



© Hungarian Government


< Next Previous >
Key
 Hover over the blue highlighted text to view the acronym meaning
Hover over these icons for more information



Add new comment