Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a conference organized by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK) that Hungary will stay out of the Russia-Ukraine war and will continue to successfully veto sanctions that go against its interests.
The prime minister pledged to maintain Hungary’s energy supply coming from Russia and the centrally regulated energy price schemes, adding that 4.7 million jobs will be protected, and even increased. The government will be able to support SMEs with special programs even if the central bank’s base rate remains high, PM Orbán said. He said the government will maintain export-oriented economic growth and it will simultaneously curb inflation. PM Orbán noted that the cabinet decided at its meeting on Wednesday to increase the capital of Eximbank by 30 billion forints (EUR 79m), allowing the economic development ministry to provide an additional 300 billion forints for economic development purposes. He noted that Hungary is in 94th place in a global ranking of countries in terms of population size and 34th in terms of exports, which “makes us the world’s 15th most open economy”.