Finance Minister Mihály Varga has revealed that with a class-leading economic growth of 5.2 percent in the second quarter of the year, Hungary’s performance improved three times faster than the European Union average.
“Final and detailed data for the second quarter showed that in addition to consumption and investments, the services sector led the increase,” Minister Varga told state television channel M1.
The Minister added that since the current government came into power in 2010, net wages have grown by an accumulated 85 percent, and the gross wage rise between 2010-2018 was the fastest among the Visegrád Four group states.
“Investment play a distinct role in economic growth, and this is true for state, private and municipality investments alike,” Varga said. Last year, investments in the Hungarian economy amounted to HUF 8,500 billion (EUR 25.65 billion).
“Changes in taxation, encouragement of investments and the steps of the (government’s) economic support program all contributed to the rise,” he said. Even with economic growth expected to slow down in the second half of the year in Western Europe, domestic factors will continue to fuel Hungarian economic growth.
“Even with a slowdown in the second half, full-year growth could still be 4.3-4.4 percent, not 4.1 (the government’s previous estimate),” Varga said.