As a result of the Government measures of the past three years, the Hungarian economy is expected to grow by 2 percent next year, and Hungarian small- and medium-sized enterprises must be the ones to benefit best from that, Minister for National Economy said at a conference in Sarlóspuszta where he met with young economists.

Speaking at the third iCon economic policy conference, Mihály Varga said that thanks to the Government measures introduced over the past three years the fiscal deficit decreased to below 3 percent, general government debt has been placed on a downward path and the market financing of the state has been secured. All these factors create a stable basis which facilitate that the economy will be back on a grown path of about 2 percent next year, and “the major winners of that process shall be domestic SMEs,” he stated.
The Minister for National Economy stressed that no election-time budget has been drafted and the bill provides opportunities for stimulating economic expansion. In the opinion of Mihály Varga, due to the moderation of inflation the central bank’s projected interest rate cuts are realistic.

Responding to a journalist’s question, the Minister stressed that switching to the new on-line-connectable cash machines should be a smoother process. Mihály Varga said that in the coming days a government decree designed to speed up the change will published. According to the proposal, the cash machine orders shall be forwarded by specialist repair workshops that participate in the purchasing phase to retailers. These will have then seven days to get order details registered at the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV).

Through the NAV website, purchase orders for cash machines can be requested directly at retailers.

More than one hundred young economists and entrepreneurs participated at the two-day conference, where they exchanged ideas on the problems the Hungarian SME sector is facing as well as on issues such ascompetitiveness and the importance of predictability. They also assessed the financing options of domestic SMEs from the viewpoint of retail banks and the central bank. They also discussed the options and obstacles influencing the development of Hungarian enterprises and evaluated the Government’s economic policy as foreign experts see it.

(Ministry for National Economy)