The Government, which took office in 2010, has put the Hungarian state budget on a sustainable path, and this achievement has also been acknowledged by Brussels: on 29 May, the European Commission announced that it proposes to the European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), composed of EU ministers, to abrogate the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) against Hungary, which was commenced in 2004.
Deputy State Secretary Gergely Prőhle received United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas O. Melia in his office on June 5.
Almost 9 thousand people are currently working at the dykes and around 3 thousand volunteers are helping flood prevention efforts, Government Spokesperson András Giró-Szász said at a press conference at noon today, adding that a further 16 thousand officers are in reserve from the defence force, police, civil protection and civil guard authorities. At the moment there is a flood alert along 760 kilometres of the Danube and the national technical management corps (OMIT) has set up sandbag-filling areas in 16 locations.
According to the latest report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, in Q1 2013 Hungarian GDP – in line with prior estimates – increased by 0.7 percent in comparison to the previous quarter, which figure is the result of outstanding, 27.6 percent growth in agricultural output and the 1.5 percent expansion of the construction sector.
Key features of financial processes regarding the central sub sector of the state budget in May 2013.
On 4 June, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared a state of emergency due to the record high water levels expected on the Danube from Wednesday.
At the press conference organised to evaluate the Government’s economic policy over the past three years, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said that the Hungarian Government and Brussels are also expecting economic growth to be about 1.5% for 2014, which is a realistic estimate, but if Europe succeeds in emerging from the recession, increased exports will mean even greater growth for Hungary. The Government has laid the foundations for economic growth, but Hungarian growth cannot be expected to pick up without an upswing in Europe, Minister Varga said.
The Hungarian economy and the Fourth Amendment were among the topics of discussion at the meeting between State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Péter Szijjártó and Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the United States Department of State, which took place on Wednesday in Budapest.
Under the professional management of the developer Hungarian Road Management Company, a 3.2 km long section of the side road connecting Pápa and Szilsárkány in Győr-Moson-Sopron County has been reconstructed.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a letter to the widow of Sir Bernard Schreier, expressing his condolences.