Varga calls for whiter economy, more lending
Budapest, September 23 (MTI) – Further efforts against the illegal economy and measures to boost employment and lending should be in the focus of Hungary’s economic policy, national economy minister Mihaly Varga told a conference today.
Varga said that the government was committed to increasing the rate of a sustainable growth coupled with keeping the deficit of public finance under 3 percent of Hungary’s GDP in the coming four years.
The minister also highlighted the importance of responding to the challenge of negative demographic tendencies and introducing measures to encourage young couples to have more children.
Addressing a conference organised by business daily Napi Gazdasag, Varga said the drafting of next year’s budget was underway. The government is assuming only a slight improvement in the global economic environment as growth in the European Union is expected to remain sluggish while impetus comes from the United States and China, he added.
He said the shadow economy had been scaled back in the past years, in part because of the mandatory use of tills connected electronically to the tax office. He noted that more than 170,000 tills were online, but another big “wave” would follow as companies that do seasonal business start using them in the run-up to the holiday.
The government continues to aim to keep workplaces through payroll tax preferences, Varga said, adding that fostered work schemes are seen as a temporary measure. It is important that the participants in these programmes get the chance to re-enter the labour market, he added. He said about 8 percent of fostered workers find work on the primary market at present, and that instruction of participants in the scheme should become more efficient.
The minister said the year-end level of Hungary’s state debt must be reduced on a continual basis. But he added that the government must be flexible and take advantage of attractive interest conditions allowing the issue of bonds in the long term.
He mentioned the health, electronics, logistics, food, automotive and electromobility industries that could attract long-term investments to the country.
Photo: MTI – Attila Kovacs
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters
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