Hungary has earmarked 268 billion forints (EUR 0.92bn) for upgrading and extending regional hospitals and outpatient clinics this year, the National Development Agency (NFÜ) said in a statement on Thursday.

Of this amount, 223 billion forints worth of investment is already covered by contracts while 45 billion forints will be open to bids. Of the latter amount, 10 billion forints will be ploughed into developing oncological centres with the aim of reducing mortality caused by malignant tumours, a priority in Hungary, NFÜ said. Thirty-five billion forints will go towards restructuring outpatient and hospital care, it said.

In line with the EU directive for supporting less developed areas, all regions except for Budapest and Pest County will have access to these funds, the agency said.

(MTI)