LMP: 4 million people in the country living below the subsistence level

Budapest, December 30 (MTI) – The green opposition LMP party on Wednesday said that if it had been in power in 2015, people’s standards of living would have been directly proportional to how hard they had worked.

Spokesman Jozsef Gal said at a press conference that the party’s focus in 2015 was mainly on the eradication of worker poverty, as there are 4 million people in the country living below the subsistence level.

Gal noted his party’s budget proposal which he said would have created jobs, ensured higher wages and stable growth without forcing the government to rely on external funding. The proposal represented a 21st-century economy contrary to the austerity measures of the ruling Fidesz party, he said. Gal noted that LMP had proposed the reintroduction of a progressive tax system which would have raised the income of minimum wage earners by 21,000 forints (EUR 67) and that of average earners by 38,000 forints.

He said LMP would have introduced fair wage scales as opposed to “fake career models” to curb emigration and would have reduced the VAT on locally-produced food products.

Gal said his party would have spent the funds allocated to the upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant on refurbishing run-down buildings.

He said LMP was the only party that was consistent in its stance on the migration crisis by pointing out the potential dangers of the massive influx of refugees while stressing the need to help them.

LMP made dozens of proposals in connection with eliminating corruption and did everything in its power to try to stop the farmland sales, he said. He noted that his party also urged the government to give an effective response to the “brokerage scandals” and also pointed out the responsibility of the central bank.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters