Ministry for National Economy
News
Downgrade by Standard&Poor’s Rating Services should not be taken seriously
Ministry for National Economy, November 26, 2012 6:02 PM
Rating agencies can no longer be taken seriously as they were the ones that suffered the largest loss of credibility during the years of crisis. Having failed to predict the financial crisis, they are a thing of the past now. The future will not depend on them or on speculators, but on countries and production. Instead of credit rating agencies, Hungary has been assessed by investors which have brought working capital to the country in the past couple of years, such as Daimler, Audi, Knorr-Bremse, Alcoa-Köfém or Coca-Cola.
Minister of State Zoltán Cséfalvay to head negotiations on use of EU funds
Ministry for National Economy, November 26, 2012 5:02 PM
Minister for National Economy György Matolcsy entrusts Minister of State for Economic Strategy Zoltán Cséfalvay to head the negotiations on implementing European Union development funds in the period 2014-2020.
Retail sales stagnating or declining in Europe
Ministry for National Economy, November 26, 2012 12:02 PM
In the initial three quarters of 2012 the volume of retail sales declined by 1.5 percent year-on-year that has been the consequence mainly of lower sales of non-food products and automotive fuel. Mail order and internet sales have continued to boom. Turnover of food has been practically unchanged in the past nine months. In September 2012 total retail sales declined by 3.1 percent, whereas there are several expanding sub sectors such as, for example, trade in non-specialized stores, textiles, clothing and footwear as well as cosmetics articles. The overall unfavorable data have not been a purely Hungarian phenomenon: this trend has been typical of several other countries and regions in Europe.
Enterprises can utilize tax relief on contributions for researchers
Ministry for National Economy, November 22, 2012 5:18 PM
The draft version of the National Research, Development and Innovation Strategy published on 6 November focuses on enterprises and production of higher added value. One of the new elements of tax regulations adopted on Monday, tax relief on contributions for researchers, is fully consistent with this concept.
National Assembly voted on taxing public utility pipelines and cables
Ministry for National Economy, November 22, 2012 4:44 PM
The Parliament has adopted the bill on levying tax on public utility pipelines and cables thus contributing to fiscal stabilization parallel to enforcing more proportionate burden-sharing.
Temporary extra taxes on retail trade and telecommunication sectors to be abolished
Ministry for National Economy, November 22, 2012 3:12 PM
Irrespective of the verdict by the European Commission, measures which have been the basis for infringement procedures will be phased out. According to a previous decision of the Hungarian Government, irrespective of the Commission’s decision, extra taxes levied temporarily on certain sectors such as retail trade and telecommunication will entirely be abolished, as of 1 January 2013.
Closer cooperation between Brazil and Hungary
Ministry for National Economy, November 20, 2012 1:54 PM
On 12 November 2012 Brasília hosted the first meeting of the Hungarian-Brazilian Economic Joint Committee (HBEJC). The delegation headed by the co-chairman of HBEJC, Minister of State for Economic Regulation Kristóf Szatmáry, conducted negotiations with representatives of the Brazilian Government in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Financial ombudsman position established to protect consumers
Ministry for National Economy, November 20, 2012 11:06 AM
The National Assembly has adopted amendments submitted by the Government which are necessary for setting up the post of a financial ombudsman as an independent legal entity.
Letter of Minister György Matolcsy to Mr. Olli Rehn
Ministry for National Economy, November 19, 2012 4:39 PM
Minister for National Economy György Matolcsy has written a letter to Mr. Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs at the European Commission, earlier today.
Negotiations commenced on assuming local council debt by the state
Ministry for National Economy, November 16, 2012 3:44 PM
Hódmezővásárhely was the first city where the coordination process about taking over local government debt by the state began.
Increasing industrial output
Ministry for National Economy, November 16, 2012 3:31 PM
According to the release of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published earlier this morning, workday-adjusted industrial production increased by 0.6 percent in September 2012 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In comparison to August seasonally and workday-adjusted data signal that output volume was up by 0.7 percent. On the basis of adjusted statistics, production contracted by 3.8 percent, which figure has been significantly influenced by workday effect.
Central Europe can succeed as a team
Ministry for National Economy, November 16, 2012 3:29 PM
Working as a team, Central Europe can succeed in closing the gap with Western Europe, Minister for National Economy György Matolcsy said on Friday at a Hungarian-Slovakian economic forum held in Budapest.
The Taxation Policy of a Hungary in Renewal
Ministry for National Economy, November 13, 2012 5:16 PM
At the focal point of taxation policy: securing financial balance, acknowledging aspiring entrepreneurs and reducing the weight of taxes on incomes parallel to increasing the role of value-added taxes on consumption and turnover.
Minister of State Cséfalvay: arguments are just presented in this phase of IMF-EU credit negotiations
Ministry for National Economy, November 9, 2012 3:30 PM
Until recently no accord could be reached on the amount or type of IMF-EU credit line at negotiations held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission; currently the viewpoints of the parties are being tabled, Minister of State Zoltán Cséfalvay from the Ministry for National Economy said in Berlin.
Fiscal consolidation measures already in Parliament
Ministry for National Economy, November 9, 2012 3:14 PM
The Government has been committed to correcting mistaken decisions of the past, and is therefore continuing with its policy of keeping fiscal deficit under 3 percent and reducing general government debt.
Selling Mol shares not among plans
Ministry for National Economy, November 9, 2012 2:21 PM
There are no plans to sell Mol shares owned by the state; they comprise an extra security reserve for the financing of the state budget – the Ministry for National Economy stated on Thursday.
Minister of State Cséfalvay: 2012 is the year of trend reversal regarding deficit and general government debt
Ministry for National Economy, November 8, 2012 4:19 PM
A trend reversal has been under way in 2012 as general government debt has been declining and state budget deficit could be reduced to below 3 percent of GDP, said Minister of State Zoltán Cséfalvay from the Ministry for National Economy on Thursday, at a conference in Budapest.
„Cornerstones" for 2013 budget in place
Ministry for National Economy, November 7, 2012 6:19 PM
According to the Minister for National Economy György Matolcsy, the European Commission has awarded a good mark for Hungarian economic policy, and thus the excessive deficit procedure against Hungary can be abrogated next year. It is a great success, Minister Matolcsy emphasised, that the structural balance of the budget has been improved in excess of EU requirements, achieving an increase of over 2%.
Hungary excels in general government debt reduction
Ministry for National Economy, November 7, 2012 5:29 PM
In the past two years Hungary has achieved significant results regarding general government debt, recently one of the most widely observed indicators all around the world.
The state of the central sub sector of the state budget in october 2012
Ministry for National Economy, November 7, 2012 5:26 PM
Key data of the central sub sector of the state budget in October 2012.
National consultation forum launched on the National Research, Development and Innovation Strategy
Ministry for National Economy, November 6, 2012 3:29 PM
National consultations have been launched on the draft version of the National Research, Development and Innovation Strategy 2020, which had been prepared by the Ministry for National Economy after a broad coordination process with experts. The opportunity of sending comments and proposals on the draft strategy available at kormány.hu or expressing relevant opinions in person is now open to the wider public at the one-month discussion forum lasting until 4 December 2012 in Budapest, Debrecen, Győr, Pécs and Szeged.
IMF-EU agreement no panacea on its own
Ministry for National Economy, October 31, 2012 2:47 PM
According to Minister of State for Economic Strategy at the Ministry for National Economy Zoltán Cséfalvay, it is obvious that an agreement with the IMF and the European Union can be no cure-all on its own.
Foreign trade recorded a significant surplus again in August
Ministry for National Economy, October 31, 2012 11:25 AM
According to the latest flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in August 2012 the volume of exports increased by 1.7 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Foreign trade surplus amounted to 162.87bn HUF (587.6 million EUR) which is 38.72bn HUF (133.1 million EUR) more than the surplus recorded in August.
Hungarian economic policy will focus on investments and growth
Ministry for National Economy, October 29, 2012 1:29 PM
In the future Hungarian economic policy will concentrate on investments and igniting economic growth – Minister for National Economy György Matolcsy said in Budapest at an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary (AmCham) on Monday.
Improving retail sales numbers in August 2012
Ministry for National Economy, October 25, 2012 10:46 AM
In the initial eight months of 2012 sales of food, beverages and tobacco products managed to stagnate year-on-year in an unfavourable global economic environment. In August decline in the retail sub sector decreased from July’s 2.4 percent to 1.5 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.