The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees Hungary’s macroeconomic position as “stable”.
In a new report, the monetary body said it considers Hungary’s 2018 growth prospects strong and next year’s draft budget reassuring.
The IMF stated that among the challenges facing Hungary is the need to strengthen the country’s competitiveness and move higher on the global value chain.
According to MTI, the IMF emphasized the importance of the measures imposed by Hungary with a view to boosting the productivity of small and medium-sized companies.
During its visit to compile the report earlier this year, the IMF’s delegation met with representatives of Hungary’s National Competitiveness Council.
Sources state that the Hungarian government believes a turnaround in the country’s competitiveness is under way. The ministry said this sentiment was supported by Hungary’s economic players, macroeconomic indicators, international credit rating agencies and various international competitiveness rankings.
In its report, the IMF said there was “a need to improve education and vocational training to address skills mismatches, and to continue to reduce the number of participants in the public works schemes” with a view to releasing them to the primary labor market.
The finance ministry echoed the IMF’s sentiments, noting that one of the main tasks of the Competitiveness Council was to prepare proposals on further developing the education and vocational training systems.