Hungary’s finance minister presented the 2019 budget bill to parliament on Wednesday.
During the session, Mihály Varga said next year’s budget would ensure steady economic growth.
He said within the pursuit of a disciplined fiscal policy in 2019, more money would be available for family support, measures to address demographic problems, job creation, retaining the workforce, preserving the real value of pensions, developing the economy, and protecting Hungary’s borders.
Minister Varga also added that the government has secured the resources for this spending thanks to growth that has outstripped the EU average since 2013, andexpects economic growth of 4.1 percent next year and it calculates with annual inflation of 2.7 percent.
The minister said that Hungary’s plans are for a lower deficit target of 1.8 percent. He added that when drafting the budget, the cabinet took into consideration developments in the global economy, which could turn sour, so reserves have been increased accordingly.
According to MTI, in 2019, both the general reserves and a safety reserve linked to meeting the deficit target will increase by 1.5 times compared with this year. The public debt-to-GDP ratio will continue to decline, falling to 69.6 percent according to EU methodology.
Minister Varga said spending will increase in several areas. Education spending will increase by 15 billion HUF while and extra 101 billion HUF will be pumped into healthcare.
The budget for public security and defense will increase by 156 billion HUF, and additional resources were needed to combat migration and the associated risk of terrorism.
The minister also highlighted that there will be a number of tax cuts, salary increases across many sectors and VAT cuts on household products, such as milk.