Fidesz official: Wages rising steadily

Budapest (MTI) – Wages are rising steadily and the government will review around the end of this year whether it is possible to raise real wages more than the current pace and what a further increase would mean in terms of employment, economic balance and growth, head of the ruling Fidesz party’s parliamentary group Lajos Kósa said on public radio on Sunday.

He said this will have to be translated into legislation when Parliament reconvenes in mid-February.

Kósa said there will never be a pay rise after which Hungarians would be completely happy with their wages. “It is always possible to earn a few more forints,” he said, adding that “we tend to forget how far we have come”. He noted that real wages grew 7.5 percent in January-August this year and have been rising steadily for the 44th month in a row.

He noted that Hungary has made great progress towards full employment, the number of the employed has increased from 3.4 million to 4.3 million while around 350,000 Hungarians are working in other EU member states.

Kósa said wage policy must be shaped in a way to ensure that the number of Hungarians working abroad should remain manageable, adding that currently this stands at less than 10 percent of the population so it “fits in with the European average”.

He said it was “nonsense” that the opposition claims people are “fleeing” the country because of the “horrible” work and living conditions and the hopelessness in Hungary.

Source: MTI