Szijjártó to Blinken: Hungary does not support global minimum tax

Hungary is not keen on a global minimum tax because it would undermine European competitiveness, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said after talks by phone on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Szijjártó said on Facebook that he had told Blinken: “We’re not keen on this idea at all, especially not in its current form or under the current circumstances.” The war is putting the European economy under strain, and

new taxes on producers could prove fatal,

“especially since efforts are under way to introduce them in Europe at the start of next year, while who knows when they’ll be introduced in the rest of the world, if at all,” he said. Szijjártó said he agreed with Blinken to hold further consultations later this week.

Minister of economic development: 80 pc of inflation in Hungary due to global factors

Global factors such as rising energy and grain prices account for 80 percent of Hungarian inflation, Márton Nagy, the minister of economic development, said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday. Nagy told the daily Magyar Hírlap that recent forint weakening was linked to global developments and could be traced back to the US inflation data released last Friday.

The minister said inflationary tensions were growing, and he also spoke of the risk of a recession.

He noted that bond yields are rising, setting a challenge for the region and southern European states. Much depends on how the war in Ukraine pans out, he said, adding that next year could be tougher than the current one.

Source: MTI