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

Hungary, he noted, already spends at least 2 percent of GDP on defence, and NATO likely expected an increase to at least 3 percent, but this depended on whether or not the budget rules would end up booking the extra spending or not.

As against the current NATO spending definition, Hungary wants more than 1 percent to be excluded from the budget rule and for the defence industry to be seen as part of defence spending.

On the topic of EU financial support for Ukraine, the minister said the Ukrainian army’s upkeep, running the state, wage and pension costs, and funding for hospitals and schools would eat up 100 billion euros, and Europe would shoulder this burden alone if the US withdrew its funding. It would be preferable for the EU to spend money on stabilizing and boosting its own economy, he added.

Lawmakers could vote on 2026 budget in June

Lawmakers could take the final vote on the government’s 2026 budget bill around June 15, National Economy Minister Márton Nagy said in a video posted on social media on Monday.

Nagy said the bill would be submitted to the Fiscal Council for evaluation around April 20. He added that the bill would target a 3.5pc-of-GDP fiscal deficit. Nagy said the 2026 budget calculated with the continuation of the regulated utilities price scheme for households, the annual pensioners’ bonus, personal income tax exemptions for mothers of three as well as mothers of two under 40, and VAT rebates on some staples for pensioners.