Hungarian Government To Produce Early 2010 Budget

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

15 July 2009

Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai has called upon the government to aid in the preparation of an early 2010 budget to be passed by parliament in November. Bajnai reproached the opposition for its recent proposals, emphasising that an ‘election budget’ would not be on the cards but instead a bill for the greater good of the country.

Bajnai underlined that the Hungarian taxpayer had already suffered the “most painful measures”, and although the new measures would “not be a picnic”, they would simply involve retrenchment measures to reduce expenditure to ensure Hungary’s fiscal sustainability during and in the aftermath of the crisis.

Although Bajnai did not give away too many details of what the bill might include, he did predict broad cuts to government spending, which he said would almost certainly include cuts to local and national public administrations and public transport operators' funding.

When quizzed on the possibility of early elections, Bajnai said that for as long as the government was able to manage the crisis, it presented a better situation than the empty campaign promises of Hungary’s political parties.

Recommended