January 20th, 2010
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Hungary’s economy has to grow faster than EU average, says PM

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After the crisis, Hungary’s growth rate must exceed the European Union average by two percentage points if the country’s economy is to be competitive and attract investors, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said at a conference in Vienna on Tuesday.

Bajnai was outlining Hungary’s crisis-management measures at the Central and Eastern European Forum, a conference organised by financial journal Euromoney.

Hungary’s economy could grow by 3.5-4 percent in 2011-2012, according to analysts’ consensus, Bajnai said. But this will require the government to stick to the current strict economic policy, he added.

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  1. rolrox says:
    January 20, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    How? Bajnai isn’t staying on, and deliberately ensured that the next regime didn’t come on the scene a year ago so that they’d be “nailed” to whatever policy was implemented (a year ago) would be continued for at least 4 years – to match the term of the gov’t elected.

    Just “talking” about what should be done isn’t going to work, and if Bajnai is saying things to absolve himself of guilt, he’s mistaken. He was in charge and even though he did put some measures in place, he DIDN’T ask those affected to give him a mandate (which btw is in keeping with his predecessor who when challenged about the economy claimed that there weren’t any problems and that Orby was just stirring things up.)

    Finally, the “fixes” don’t go far enough. The problem is less that the country spends too much, it’s that it has abused its tax base, stripping the “gears” that make the “money.” To get that entrepreneurial base back will take years of low taxes and incentives – and the assets needed to fund the country during the “incentive” period have already been borrowed just to fill the current holes.

  2. Viking says:
    January 20, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    he DIDN’T ask those affected to give him a mandate
    rolrox at January 20, 2010 12:27 PM
    —
    So you are proposing a referendum for austerity measures and let the people decide which one would be the best?
    Or is it a new election you mean?
    Should every Government in every country have a new election every time there is a financial crisis?
    How SHOULD he have asked for a mandate?