The Minister for National Economy said the Hungarian Government was of the opinion that society can best benefit from a market economy, in response to a remark - citing critics of the Government's economic policy - that signs indicate a turn towards a planned economy.
With regard to a claim that the Government’s measures have damaged the perception of the country among foreign investors, Mihály Varga said that the stable parliamentary majority of the Government enables the swift adoption of regulatory amendments which “many enterprises still have to get used to”. The Minister said that in the past couple of years investor confidence has not deteriorated; foreign enterprises continue to be eager to invest in Hungary and they profit from more agile political decision-making, in addition to which the country has become “extremely attractive” for enterprises as a result of the taxation system overhaul. As far as nationalisation is concerned, the Minister stressed that the philosophy change concerning economic policy is a worldwide phenomenon which also concerns services that are vital for the community. The new attitude is that when it comes to public services it is the quality and proper tariffs that matter the most rather than the profits of service providers, the Minister said. He added that he “does not like talking about nationalisation, because the term calls to mind expropriations in the 1940s and 50s”, and he underlined that the Government intends to come to a reasonable agreement with the owners of the enterprises involved.
Speaking about consultations held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said that Hungary had always wanted a safety net from the IMF rather than money. Talks will be resumed at a conference in Washington starting next week. “I hope that the IMF will also slowly realise that we do not need money”, Mihály Varga said, adding that the IMF and the Government agree that the lack of economic growth is the greatest challenge, but they disagree on how to achieve growth. The IMF is urging the abolishing of bank taxes, because it believes that it may lead to the reinvigoration of lending activity. In the opinion of the Government, however, the banking system is only one factor among many. The key reason for sluggish investment is that enterprises only take out an investment loan if they expect their profits to increase.
Full press release
© Hungarian Government
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article