European Union member states ensured their support for fiscal tightening Hungary is undertaking to bring its general government deficit under the required EU threshold at a meeting of Ecofin in Brussels on Tuesday.
EU finance ministers established – with their approval of the European Commission’s assessment prepared at the end of January – that Hungary had taken sufficient measures thus far to bring its general government deficit under 3pc of GDP by 2011.
Latvia, Poland, Malta, Lithuania and Romania also received good marks, and the ministers extended the deadlines for Lithuania and Romania to bring their deficit under the 3pc threshold by one year.