Opposition MP slams Orbán’s ‘populist’ economic policy

Párbeszéd lawmaker Tamás Mellár has slammed the government’s “populist economic policy”, saying it relied on artificial means to keep Hungary’s annual GDP growth rate at around 4-5 percent.

Citing the preliminary 2021 and 2022 budget figures, Mellár told a press conference on Monday that Hungary’s economic growth was based on a threefold increase in government spending. But he warned that this policy would eventually result in an overheated and distorted economy.

Mellár said

the government was laying the foundations of Hungary’s “fragile bubble economy” on the construction sector.

“It’s pouring money into iron, steel and concrete instead of technological developments that would increase exports,” he said.

Still, he said the biggest problem was the uneven distribution of the benefits of the country’s growth. The assets of private bankers increased by 20 percent last year, Mellár said, adding that this wealth was concentrated in the hands of a mere 47,000 people. “But there’s no funding available for quality growth,” he said.

• Minister: Hungary economy among strongest in EU

Párbeszéd MP Mellár said

the government’s economic policy would not improve Hungary’s level of competitiveness, arguing that it impeded the development of small and medium-sized companies while causing corporations to become unaccustomed to competition due to their positions of monopoly.

Funding for the education and training of a quality workforce is also lacking, he said.

Source: MTI