Hungary will see significant pay rises in healthcare and education between 2018-2022, say government sources.
János Lázár, the minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, said that without wage hikes Hungary cannot draw level with advanced western countries.
During the recent Business Summit of the Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists, Lázár said there will be no genuine change in healthcare if we are unable to raise salaries.
The minister also indicated that the government is planning very significant digital and transport infrastructure developments. E-governance must be extended, and the government is beginning the acceleration of digitization “in its own backyard”, he said. The Cabinet would spend 200 billion HUF on this between 2018 and 2020, he added.
Lázár further also announced that the Cabinet had decided on the large-scale modernization and development of the road and railway networks “because it is important to tune Europe, and primarily our region, to Budapest”.
The minister also highlighted how in 2010 the sovereign debt to GDP reached 83 percent, while this figure has now fallen to around 73 percent. He pointed out that only 3 to 4 countries have been able to reduce their sovereign debts in the European Union, but in the years to come we must further reduce the percentage of the sovereign debt to the gross domestic product because it is still high by regional standards.