Government to submit draft budget for 2017 in spring

Budapest, December 28 (MTI) – The government will present the draft budget for 2017 to parliament next spring as a sign of its commitment to stability and predictability, the economy ministry’s state secretary in charge of finances told the daily Magyar Idok on Monday.

Asked if this is an overly ambitious plan in light of the great deal of instability expected in 2016, Agnes Hornung said that by that time the government would probably have a realistic picture about what developments might be expected in 2017.

Although agriculture made a negative impact, Hungary’s economic growth is expected to be at around 3 percent this year, “somewhere between the 3.1 percent forecast made in the convergence programme and the 2.8 percent figure registered in the third quarter of 2015,” she said.

“Factors influencing next year’s growth, including migration, China’s economic slowdown and the impact of the Volkswagen scandal have all been identified so we see no reason for revising the 2016 forecast,” she said, adding that a slowdown in EU payments should be considered the main risk.

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