Viktor Orban, leader of conservative party Fidesz, said on Tuesday he had not tried to negotiate a deal with the IMF ahead of the spring elections.
Orban spoke in response to calls from the ruling Socialists to make public the content of February talks between a Fidesz delegation and the IMF.
“Fidesz will not strike an agreement with anyone until it wins an election,” Orban said at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.
On Monday, Fidesz deputy leader and economic expert Mihaly Varga said in a television interview that his party was preparing the ground for renegotiating terms with the IMF if they assume power after April.
Varga repeated Fidesz’s view that Hungary’s 2010 budget deficit would be substantially larger than the official target of 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, mentioning a 7.5 percent estimation for potential shortfall.
In response, the ruling Socialist Party has asked Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai to clarify whether Fidesz had concluded a secret pact with the IMF about increasing the budget deficit.
An IMF official told Reuters on Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund had not held negotiations with main Hungarian opposition party Fidesz. The fund has met with Fidesz officials for “an informal exchange of views,” the official added.