The 500 billion euro infrastructure fund that Germany announced last week could put Hungary in an advantageous position, the national economy minister said in Brussels on Monday.

Speaking after a meeting of the Eurogroup, the council of the euro zone’s finance ministers, Nagy said, “No country can be led and no social policy pursued if the economy lags behind or competitiveness is weak.”

Germany’s announcement of a 500 billion euro infrastructure fund could benefit Hungary in the short term, he said, “because Hungary is highly integrated into the German economy”. He said that Hungary’s economy could grow two percentage points faster than Germany, so the Hungarian government’s 3 percent growth forecast for this year was “more and more realistic”. Nagy said that Germany’s stress on the economy and improving competitiveness was “good for Europe and good for Hungary”.

Also, aspects of US-Hungary cooperation would have “a very beneficial outcome” for Hungary.

Meanwhile, planning for the 2026 Hungarian budget began on Monday, he said, adding that it would be “a budget of tax cuts”. The minister also vowed that by 2026 the budget deficit would not exceed 3.5 percent of GDP.

Commenting on this year’s budget figures, Nagy said the shortfall in the first two months reached 42 percent of the annual target, adding that this was nominally smaller than last year’s deficit. “The budget is under control,” he declared. This year’s target remains 3.7 percent, he said, adding that “we’d like to stick to this”. read details HERE: Huge budget deficit in Hungary by February