Mihály Varga, Minister of Finance, submitted Hungary’s 2020 draft budget to Parliament on Tuesday.
According to the Ministry, the 2020 budget will increase central expenditure in a number of areas, with a focus on demographic policy and sustained economic growth.
The government has earmarked 21,791 billion HUF (67.7. billion EUR) in central expenditures and 21,424 billion HUF (66.54 billion EUR) in revenues, resulting in a central budget deficit of one percent of GDP, below even the government’s previous plan of a 1.5 percent deficit for 2020 laid out in the country’s European Union convergence plan.
Rmx.news highlights that the budget is based on a GDP growth expectation of 4 percent, slightly above international forecasts, but in the past few years Hungary has consistently outperformed those expectations. Inflation is expected at 2.8 percent and the budget also contains 225 billion HUF (700 million EUR) in general reserves. Public debt is expected to fall to 66 percent of GDP.
Minister Varga said the four main pillars of the budget are higher family subsidies, an economic development plan to stave off the effects of a slowdown in Western European growth, lower taxes and increased defense spending. The latter will rise to 550.7 billion HUF (1.71 billion EUR) from this year’s HUF 428.7 billion.
After the general debate of the budget in Parliament and separate debates on the budget chapters in parliamentary committees, the vote on the budget is scheduled for July 12th. Breaking with the previous government practice of passing the following year’s budget at the end of the year, the Fidesz government has since 2011 consistently submitted it to Parliament by June at the latest.
Photo credit: MTI/Tamás Kovács