Hungary to respond to crisis with robust stimulus package, FM says
Hungary’s government last year offered foreign investors to cover half of the value of investments if workers were retained. As a result, an unprecedented volume of investments has been carried out, and currently more people work in Hungary than before the crisis, Szijjártó said.
A total of 1,435 companies have participated in the scheme, with investments totalling EUR 4.8 billion, he said. As a result, 270,000 jobs have been rescued and 13,000 new ones created.
Szijjártó said unemployment has fallen to 3.4%, which some textbooks consider close to full employment. Hungary’s economy is extremely open and its performance is determined by exports and the value of investments, he said. Since 2014, their total value has increased every year, he added. Over the past seven years, foreign investors carried out 590 investments with a total value of EUR 22 bn, creating 99,000 new jobs, he said. Hungary has increased its industrial output by 70% since 2010, he added.
Szijjártó also announced that three French-owned companies will invest a total of HUF 20 bn forints (EUR 56.2 mn) in Hungary in the coming months.
Cover photo: MTI/ Mátyás Borsos
