Economy
Hungary Orbán pledges major tax cut, sees budget gap at 7.5% of GDP in 2010
Orbán told television channel ATV late on Tuesday the budget was a “bluff".
“This is not a crisis managing government and not a crisis managing package (of measures), but a crisis enhancing government and a crisis enhancing package."
“The budget is a bluff, a lie. A budget consists of numbers. If these figures are correct, the budget stands on its feet. If these data are false or manipulated - deliberately or by incompetence - it’s called a bluff."
Orbán claims next year’s budget gap will be some HUF 1,300 billion wider than what the government expects.
Hungary was the first European Union member state to apply for and receive a loan from international lenders to avoid financial meltdown last October. In exchange for a USD 25.1 bn IMF-led credit facility it pledged 3.9% of GDP budget deficit for 2009 and 3.8% for 2010.
Orbán, however, claims the deficit next year will be 7.3-7.5% of GDP, based on what Fidesz is aware of at the moment, not considering “the skeletons in the closet".
To a question why he does not believe in either the Finance Ministry’s prognoses or the credit rating agencies, Orbán said he is an adult and needs no one to tell him what to think.
“If I want to formulate an opinion about the budget I don’t have to trust anyone - the Socialists or credit rating agencies -, I trust myself. I read it (the budget) and see it for myself. This is the 20th budget I’ve been working on. I also have common sense."
He also noted that a “three-year budget is ideal."
To a question whether he would like to conceive a three-year budget in Hungary as well, Orbán replied: “This is how it works in England."
“I believe in transparent [...] budget planning and this is what I’m seeking means for," Orbán said, adding that under a Fidesz cabinet the budget will be transparent and calculable.
“It is a secondary issue whether it will be a one-year, two-year, three-year or ten-year budget. It’s a technical matter," he said.
"If you take Fidesz's comments literally, if they really want to increase the budget deficit, that could be a blow to foreign investor confidence in the current fragile situation," Standard & Poor’s analyst Kai Stukenbrock said in an interview in July this year.
Orbán also said there will be a major, one-off tax reduction in 2010 if Fidesz is voted back to power. General elections are to be held in the spring.
He declined to say, however, how large the tax cut will be. He said “it depends on how many skeletons we find in the closet."
The party is not to unveil its detailed economic programme, i.e. with numbers in it, until it learns of the true state of the economy after the elections (if it wins, which is more than likely).
“There will be a major tax reduction, that I can promise" Orbán said, adding that simplification of the tax system will also be in focus, just like the goal to alleviate burdens for employees and families.
"The bigger the trouble you are in, the more you have to cut taxes," Orbán added.
“This is not a crisis managing government and not a crisis managing package (of measures), but a crisis enhancing government and a crisis enhancing package."
“The budget is a bluff, a lie. A budget consists of numbers. If these figures are correct, the budget stands on its feet. If these data are false or manipulated - deliberately or by incompetence - it’s called a bluff."
Orbán claims next year’s budget gap will be some HUF 1,300 billion wider than what the government expects.
Hungary was the first European Union member state to apply for and receive a loan from international lenders to avoid financial meltdown last October. In exchange for a USD 25.1 bn IMF-led credit facility it pledged 3.9% of GDP budget deficit for 2009 and 3.8% for 2010.
Orbán, however, claims the deficit next year will be 7.3-7.5% of GDP, based on what Fidesz is aware of at the moment, not considering “the skeletons in the closet".
To a question why he does not believe in either the Finance Ministry’s prognoses or the credit rating agencies, Orbán said he is an adult and needs no one to tell him what to think.
“If I want to formulate an opinion about the budget I don’t have to trust anyone - the Socialists or credit rating agencies -, I trust myself. I read it (the budget) and see it for myself. This is the 20th budget I’ve been working on. I also have common sense."
He also noted that a “three-year budget is ideal."
To a question whether he would like to conceive a three-year budget in Hungary as well, Orbán replied: “This is how it works in England."
“I believe in transparent [...] budget planning and this is what I’m seeking means for," Orbán said, adding that under a Fidesz cabinet the budget will be transparent and calculable.
“It is a secondary issue whether it will be a one-year, two-year, three-year or ten-year budget. It’s a technical matter," he said.
"If you take Fidesz's comments literally, if they really want to increase the budget deficit, that could be a blow to foreign investor confidence in the current fragile situation," Standard & Poor’s analyst Kai Stukenbrock said in an interview in July this year.
Orbán also said there will be a major, one-off tax reduction in 2010 if Fidesz is voted back to power. General elections are to be held in the spring.
He declined to say, however, how large the tax cut will be. He said “it depends on how many skeletons we find in the closet."
The party is not to unveil its detailed economic programme, i.e. with numbers in it, until it learns of the true state of the economy after the elections (if it wins, which is more than likely).
“There will be a major tax reduction, that I can promise" Orbán said, adding that simplification of the tax system will also be in focus, just like the goal to alleviate burdens for employees and families.
"The bigger the trouble you are in, the more you have to cut taxes," Orbán added.
