Csaba Dömötör, State Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, said Hungary is leaving recent economic difficulties behind without austerity measures.
In a discussion with opposition Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi at the Tranzit conference in Tihany, western Hungary, Dömötör said that while the previous leftist government’s reaction to the 2008 crisis had been based on austerity measures, and led the country into the “dead-end street of taking out an IMF loan”, the incumbent government considers crisis management to be a question of “who will make the final decisions on the future,” besides economic policy measures.
Dömötör said real wages have grown by 70 percent during the Fidesz government’s tenure over the past ten years. The government’s family support system and other benefits have probably contributed to declining emigration numbers seen since 2015. He said while the government sees that Hungary has a vested interest in being a member of the EU, “this doesn’t mean that we can’t push Hungary’s interests through.” He also called on the opposition to refrain from “campaigning for the suspension of EU funding for Hungary for internal political purposes.”