Today the Hungarian government has submitted to parliament the Bill concerning the amendment of the the Central Bank Act of 2011/CCVIII.
The general government deficit-to-GDP ratio of Hungary has improved substantially after the change of government in 2010 which was a consequence of a proper economic policy and a disciplined and trustworthy fiscal policy. In 2011 the structural deficit excluding one-off – unplanned – items was 2.43 percent of GDP, which is lower than the 2.94 percent deficit target that had been expected. The overall balance calculated according to the EDP methodology which also includes one-off items registered an outstanding surplus of 4.3 percent. This figure has been unprecedented since the regime change.
According to the latest flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in January 2012 the volume of exports and imports increased by 5.8 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. The trade balance in the first month of the year had a surplus of 129bn HUF.
The objective of the fixed exchange rate loan system is to cushion the impact of the substantial volatility of the exchange rates of certain foreign currencies and make more calculable the situation of FX debtors. People involved can request the scheme from this week, starting 2 April 2012, from the financial institution which has provided the loan.
The state budget according to EU methodology had for 2011 a surplus of 1204.6bn HUF which corresponds to the 4.3 percent of GDP. The budget deficit excluding one-off items was 2.43 percent instead of the 2.94 percent which had been assumed. This is an outstanding achievement considering prior domestic results and data of other countries as well.
In December 2011-February 2012 the dynamic increase of the number of employees has continued in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year – the Central Statistics Office (KSH) reports. The number of employed aged 15-74 has increased substantially, more than in the previous period, by 51 000 to 3 million 794 thousand from 3 million 743 thousand a year before and thus the rate of employment rose to 49.5 percent. Among the population aged 15-64 years the number of employed increased by 50 000 to 3 million 761 thousand from 3 million 711 thousand a year before and thus the rate of employment rose to 55.8 percent.
According to the latest flash report of the Central Statistical Office, on the basis of data adjusted for calendar effects, in January 2012 the volume of retail sales was higher by 0.6 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. This figure places Hungary among the twelve EU member countries which registered growth compared to the first month of 2011.
Good figures are emerging: in 2011 real wages increased substantially by 6 percent
On of the gravest issues of Hungary is low employment rate. While the rate of employment in several segments of social groups which are active in the economy is around the EU average, there are a number of well-definable focal points where we have been lagging behind the EU. Such groups include the 50+ generation, career starters, the unskilled or young women with little children. Furthermore, regional differences are also huge in the country.
The Hungarian government regrets but acknowledges that the European Commission did not accept the legal arguments of the Hungarian reply of 29 November 2011, which had responded to the detailed EC statement in regard to the infringement procedure on the extra tax for the telecom sector, and it decided to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
The popularity of the SZÉP Card has proven to be greater than it had been anticipated. According to the Ministry for National Economy, the electronic voucher card may already in this year generate extra demand worth ten billion forints for the domestic tourism industry. Employers transferred 10.5bn HUF to cover fringe benefits to electronic voucher cards in the first quarter. From 15 April every POS terminal of the banks which have joined the system will be compatible with SZÉP Cards.
The amendment of the Consumer Protection Act, which was endorsed by the government at its session earlier today, is to be enacted by parliament. The modifications were incorporated in the bill after all requirements of consumers had been taken into consideration. As a result, among others, in the future complaint management will be faster and the sphere of competence for conciliation committees will be broader.
In the first month of 2012 gross average salaries rose in the national economy by 4.3 percent, whereas net salaries excluding family tax benefits rose by 1.4 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year – the Central Statistical Office reported this morning in its new type of statistical communication.
According to seasonally and workday-adjusted monthly data, industrial output rose by 2.1 percent in January 2012, whereas on a year-on-year basis production slightly decreased by 0.5 percent.
It has been a priority for the Ministry for National Economy to secure the pensions of citizens.
EU finance ministers on Tuesday decided to go ahead with the suspension of a portion of Hungary's cohesion funding for 2013 but also agreed to revisit the decision in June to assess the government's progress in keeping to its budget deficit goals, officials of the EU Danish presidency told MTI.
In line with preliminary data, Hungarian GDP grew by 1.4 percent in Q4 2011 compared to the corresponding period of the year before – the Hungarian Statistical Office has reported today. The detailed report also suggests that economic growth in Hungary has been significantly higher than the EU average and thus the country has continued closing the gap with the rest of Europe. The year-on-year expansion was 1.7 percent.
The 2012 data of the central subsystem of the state budget
The government has been and will be committed to achieving the deficit target. The proof of this commitment is that this is the first government since Hungary’s EU accession in 2004 which cut the budget deficit to below 3 percent.
Hungary is committed to keeping its budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the level set by the European Union, Zoltan Csefalvay, state secretary at the economic ministry, told a committee of European Parliament on Wednesday.
The government has decided in summer 2010 after it had reviewed the system of domestic burden sharing, learned the opinions of stakeholders of the economy as well as surveyed the international experiences and trends in taxation to radically transform the system of personal income taxes and gradually implement the flat-rate personal income tax in Hungary. In regard to the aforementioned transformation several objectives have been identified which included the simplification of the system of personal income taxation, the creation of balanced and proportionate social burden sharing, the reduction of tax burdens and the increase of the number of taxpayers.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published on its home page their regular annual report on Hungary. According to Article 4 of its charter, the IMF shall prepare a review of every member country at least once a year.
The government is ready to discuss any comment or proposal with the European Commission in regard to the Excessive Deficit Procedure verdict.
The Ministry for National Economy hereby confirms that the accrual-based deficit target figure based on EU accounting methodology will come in as expected at below 2.94 percent of GDP.
Report on the measures taken in response to Council recommendation of 7 July 2009 under Article 126(7) of the Treaty