The government’s 2010 budget deficit target of 3.8% of GDP is not feasible and could grow to 7-8% if no additional measures are taken, Fidesz former finance minister Zsigmond Járai said Tuesday.
Járai told the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum that a 5% deficit can be agreed with the IMF and the EU if it is matched with the consolidation of state-owned companies.
The euro convergence programme approved with the EU in 2007 is wrong, Járai declared as he compared it to the five-year plans of the Rákosi era. The major problem, he said, is that there is nothing in the plan to show how a brighter future can be created.
The euro can be adopted only after the economy is put in order, probably in 2015-16, Járai added.
Járai said the tax revenue can be cut from the present 39% of GDP to 29% in the next four years, as he called for a more simple and transparent tax system.