Public debt can fall to below 60 pc of GDP by 2022, says Hungarian economy minister

Hungary’s public debt can be reduced from the current 72.9 percent to below 60 percent by the end of the present governing cycle in 2022, Finance Minister Mihály Varga told the Saturday issue of daily Magyar Hírlap.

The government’s objectives are unchanged: to secure economic growth with a rate of about 4 percent, job creation, full employment, reducing debt and a low budget deficit, he said.

The social security tax could be reduced by another two percentage points in 2019, from 19.5 to 17.5 percent, the minister said. Further, the government will grant further tax benefits to families. The benefit for families with two children, for instance, will grow to a monthly 40,000 forints (EUR 126), he said.

As long as Hungary does not join the eurozone,

it focuses on creating the conditions for accession, the minister said.

“Not because we want to join [the zone] but because these conditions – low public debt, moderate inflation, low interests – favour the economy. Fortunately,

Hungary has met nearly all the major criteria. This is why we face the dilemma of when and how it would be worth joining the eurozone. At present we need not haste,” Varga said.

https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-entering-the-eurozone-in-2021-2022-how-is-it-feasible/

Source: MTI