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Hungary announces action plan to boost economy

The Hungarian government has announced a 13+1 point action plan to keep GDP growth two percentage points above the EU average.

The Hungarian government has announced a 13+1 point action plan to keep GDP growth two percentage points above the EU average.

The plan was announced at the weekly cabinet briefing on Thursdayby Finance Minister Mihály Varga in light of the global economic slowdown. He said Hungary must preserve the economic achievements of the past nine years.

Rmx.news highlights that the measures announced contain a package of lower taxes and social contributions, suspending taxation on advertising until 2022 and phasing out one of the tax schemes for individual entrepreneurs.

Minister Varga said that while next year’s budget will only be on the parliament’s table next week, the cabinet expects GDP growth to remain around four percent this year. He pointed out that since 2010, 800,000 new jobs have been created and unemployment has dropped to a record low of 3.5 percent.

The Minister said the changes in the tax system were meant to reduce bureaucracy and stimulate the economy – one such measure is that advance enterprise tax payments will no longer be required, with taxes for this year only due in May 2020.

Minister Varga said the government will spend an annual HUF 17 billion (EUR 52 million) over the next decade on expanding the irrigation system and supplement the 2020 research and development budget with HUF 32 billion to a total HUF 157 billion (EUR 483 million).

Photo credit: MTI