Hungary hopes to ink IMF loan deal by autumn, says Varga
Mihaly Varga, who has been appointed to head Hungary’s delegation in talks with the IMF, told Wednesday’s Magyar Hirlap in an interview that it was realistic for Hungary to expect a 3-year backstop loan in the region of 15 billion euros in the early autumn. “It is in our interest to conclude an agreement within the shortest time possible, but the realistic time to expect this to happen is in the early autumn,” he said. [more]
Matolcsy: Fresh EU deficit forecast “important step” toward end of excessive deficit procedure against Hungary [3]
National Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy on Tuesday wrote to European Union finance ministers that projections for Hungary in the European Commission’s latest economic forecast were an “important step” to the end of a suspension on the country’s Cohesion Fund allocation because of its high fiscal deficits. [more]
The sad inevitability of Hungary’s “unexpected” recession [1]
So it’s official, more or less: Hungary is in – or during the first quarter was in – recession, with output skidding 1.3% in January-March. The first year-on-year quarterly decline since the dire days of 2009 was apparently a big surprise to the “London analysts” and other international economists who are generally considered the go-to prognosticators for the Hungarian economy, some of whom had gone on record predicting a relatively painless drift of just .3% of GDP. [more]
Hungary economy contracts 1.3% in Q1
Hungary’s GDP fell 0.7pc yr/yr in Q1 2012 according to unadjusted figures and fell 1.3pc on workday-adjusted figures, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said in a first reading on Tuesday. First-quarter GDP was down 1.3pc from the fourth quarter last year, after a downward revised no-change in the previous quarter, seasonally- and calendar year-adjusted data show. The figures were below expectations, with London analysts expecting a quarterly contraction between 0.3-0.8pc and a stagnation yr/yr. [more]
Telcos protest new tax on telephone calls, text messages [3]
Hungary’s three biggest telcos, Magyar Telekom, Telenor and Vodafone, expressed their “shock” over the government’s planned tax on telephone calls and messages in a joint statement on Monday. The government expects the new tax to generate an annual HUF 44.4bn, instead of the originally targeted HUF 52bn, because of exemptions, National Economy Ministry state secretary Adam Balog told Parliament’s budget committee on Monday. [more]
Matolcsy: Expect faster growth, balanced budgets “for decades” [7]
The government has consolidated the general budget for the coming decades, National Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said at a forum on Friday. “We have not consolidated the Hungarian general budget for the coming years, but for the coming decades,” Mr Matolcsy said. “We are very close to reaching a growth rate next year that is not fathomed by anyone today,” the minister added. At same time Hungary could follow the policy of decreasing deficit, state debt and tax levels in a calculable way, Mr Matolcsy said. [more]
Varga to replace Fellegi as chief bailout negotiator amid wider government shake-up
Mihaly Varga will replace Tamas Fellegi as Hungary’s chief negotiator in talks on precautionary financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on public radio on Friday. [more]
OTP Bank head Csányi loses HUF 20 billion but remains wealthiest Hungarian
OTP Bank chairman and CEO Sándor Csányi is again Hungary’s richest person in 2012 with assets of Ft 135 billion, down from Ft 155 billion in 2011, according to Napi Gazdaság’s annual list of the 100 wealthiest Hungarians. Csányi topped the list in 2005, 2006, and again last year. [more]
Banking Association says gov’t broke deal with new tax
The government has violated its pact with the Banking Association by introducing a new tax on financial transactions, the Banking Association told MTI in a statement on Wednesday. Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy announced on Wednesday that the government would introduce new taxes, including a tax on financial transactions set at 0.1 percent of transactions and expected to generate 130 billion forints (EUR 448m) for the budget next year. [more]
Hungary’s “Tobin” tax [1]
A Hungarian – so goes the old, oft-told joke – is someone who enters a revolving door behind you but contrives to get out first. These days it seems a Hungarian government is one that withdraws a tax as you go in the door but has a new one ready when you come out. And for good measure, while the cancelled tax was temporary, the one at the exit is permanent.goes the old, oft-told joke – is someone who enters a revolving door behind you but contrives to get out first.
Hungary levies new taxes on financial transactions, insurance and phone calls as gov’t struggles to reign in budget deficit [4]
Hungary’s government approved the introduction of new taxes on telephone calls, on financial transactions and on insurance products at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, government spokesman Andras Giro-Szasz said. The taxes were outlined two weeks earlier in the Szell Kalman Plan 2.0, an updated version of a structural reform programme launched more than a year earlier. [more]
Hungarian business chamber urges gov’t to speed up structural reforms
Hungary’s government has started structural reforms in the right areas, but the pace of implementation could be speeded up, Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK) chairman Laszlo Parragh told MTI. Mr Parragh said structural reforms often require the tools of a “front-line medic”, adding that Hungary’s return to the right path from longtime, deeply faulted systems would not be possible without serious conflicts. [more]