The economy is the focus of the government operating between 2022 and 2026, which does not intend to change its strong commitment to the market and private capital. At the moment, there is crisis management, the government has not become communist and socialist, and is not trying to manage the economy on a non-market basis. - announced the Prime Minister at the Economic Policy Forum 2023 of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday in Budapest.

The most important findings:

- We are exceptions: in the year of the election in Hungary, the government reduced both the deficit and the national debt
- The most important issue will be the economy in the four years ahead
- The government does not want to change its strong commitment to the market
- Jobs in Hungary must primarily be filled by Hungarians
- The tax level will continue to be kept low, when Hungary establishes the rates resulting from the introduction of the global minimum tax, then the local business tax can be calculated
- Higher education is an economic issue, the Erasmus case indicates that the Union wants to take away the competitive advantage of Hungarian universities
- Meg 2-3 high-performance gas power plants must be built, these are already underway in Eastern Hungary
- Hungary continues to apply the strictest safety standards for investments
- Technological changes are taking place in the vehicle industry, after 2035 it will not be possible to manufacture gasoline-powered cars, we must definitely maintain the vehicle industry, everything has to be manufactured here.

The structure of the government had to be touched upon

Viktor Orbán said: looking at the structure of the government, what portfolios are in it and who was invited to the government, it can be seen that this is an economy-focused cabinet. He added that although it is not customary to change the government on the fly, after the formation of the government in May 2022, the structure of the government had to be touched upon within a very short period of time. This was necessary - he emphasized - because it became obvious that the Brussels sanctions raised energy prices very quickly and the issue of energy became a key issue for economic success and even a key issue for the country's ability to finance itself. In such circumstances, an independent Ministry of Energy was necessary, he said, adding: it is clearly visible in the improvement in the quality of government decisions made since then that Minister Csaba Lantos not only received this portfolio, but also controls it.

The government remains committed to market and private capital

Viktor Orbán emphasized: without market financing, Hungary will not be able to achieve the set goals. The government only intervenes and only until the market financing is fully restored and tries to replace the missing amounts and the available interest levels with the help of state intervention. But this is crisis management and not a change of direction on the part of the government, stated the prime minister.

In Europe, the power system is being restructured

Viktor Orbán also spoke about the fact that the current war also entails the restructuring of Europe's power and economic machinery. According to the prime minister, Europe has been separated from the Russian economy, one dependence has been replaced by another. It seemed absurd that Ukraine could be an EU member and a NATO member.

According to the prime minister, the fact that Ukraine could be a candidate for EU membership was an absurd statement a year ago. By now, however, it has already happened. "A type of Central European center is emerging that we have not seen on the map before," predicted the Prime Minister.

Vikor Orbán also drew attention to the newly emerging security policy zone, which, in his opinion, will have economic consequences. As he said, it can be observed that the USA is no longer deploying its military forces in Germany, but in Poland because of the war in Ukraine. "Europe's power restructuring is taking place, in several dimensions, in a coordinated manner," he pointed out

Orbán also spoke about the formation of a new security policy zone in Central Europe, because a significant part of the American troop reinforcements will arrive here. According to the prime minister, it is in the fundamental interest of Hungarian foreign policy and economic policy to save as much of the Russian-Hungarian relations as possible, but the question is how much will remain of this.

Labor should not be brought in for reasons of convenience

Hungary will need 500,000 new workers in the coming years. These positions must primarily be covered by internal reserves. That's why investments should be brought to places where there is unemployment. It must be made very clear that the emphasis must be placed on the mobilization of internal reserves, said the Prime Minister. These are not in public works. There is no type of knowledge that the economy can use. There, it is about giving people jobs instead of aid. We have a geographical reserve, large investments are focused on Eastern Hungary. They targeted the triangle of Miskolc, Debrecen and Nyíregyháza. There are still reserves in Békés county, Viktor Orbán said.

Many of the guest workers working in Hungary come from Romania and Serbia, so they have reserves at the regional level as well. In Hungary, on the other hand, it is important that Hungarians get jobs first, only after that can everything else come.

The Western European trap must be avoided, labor must not be brought in for reasons of convenience. Guest workers can only come to Hungary if those jobs cannot be filled by Hungarians.

We managed to protect Hungarian businesses from the global minimum tax

The local business tax can be calculated in Hungary, so the global minimum tax does not represent an additional tax burden for Hungarian companies.

It is not necessary to levy new taxes, but to collect the existing ones, said the Prime Minister. All this means that the focus should be on the efficiency of tax collection. In the global minimum tax case, the government was able to reach a tie, we can protect the companies. The extra burden of this will be on the shoulders of foreigners, not Hungarians, the prime minister underlined.

Hungary will build gas power plants

The most important task of the next two years is to get energy for the new Hungarian industry. For this, gas power plants must be built with the involvement of private or EU funds.

Viktor Orbán explained: the increase in energy prices is only one of the difficulties. – We have industrial capabilities, our skilled workers, engineers, and IT specialists are of outstanding ability. This is what we mean, the operation of the economic system related to industry - he outlined the situation.

According to the Prime Minister, it follows that since this requires energy, it must be produced. This energy must be created in Hungary, this will be the goal of the next two years.

The prime minister said: we will build gas power plants.

– The Union does not prohibit these, in the current situation it is not considered an enemy. It is necessary to build 2-3 high-performance power plants. These are already underway in Eastern Hungary, he added.

There will be an Erasmus program

The prime minister also spoke about Erasmus, according to which the European Union takes away the competitive advantage from Hungarian universities, not from governments. Adding that this should not be abandoned, with a different mechanism, but the competitive advantage should be maintained.

It will be an Erasmus program, we will finance it from the Hungarian budget as much as possible - the Prime Minister declared.

There is no need to be afraid of economic policy debates, but at the same time, the Hungarian National Bank and the government must agree on the most important economic trends.

Investments can only be made in Hungary under the strictest environmental protection rules. The regulations in our country are stricter than in Germany, said the prime minister.

It is a key issue for Hungary to retain its vehicle industry despite the technological change.

We will crush inflation - said the Prime Minister.

"You don't have to be afraid, it will be fine," Viktor Orbán concluded his speech.

Source: MTI / hirado.hu

Cover image: Illustration / MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd