Hungary to launch capital programme for SME's - Orbán

Schengen Area

Viktor Orbán presented Hungary's proposals for the future of the EU.

He said that the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis had to be dealt with in 2011, when a special body of eurozone prime ministers was set up. The financial crisis was dealt with by a special body called the Eurozone Council. "We're not part of the eurozone, but sometimes we're invited to it. It was informal at first and then it became formal."

Now Hungary proposes to do the same with the Schengen Area.

Those who are part of the Schengen zone, who have to protect the external borders, meet informally at first and then formally. Let the prime ministers decide what should happen.

Frontex should be subordinated to this body, which could become the organisation that protects Europe's borders.

Action Plan

Hungary should not be concerned with Europe, but with the Hungarian economy.

We have put together the first action plan, it will deliver 3-6% economic growth, we will not see that in this quarter, not even in the fourth quarter,

said Orbán.

Growth in the next two quarters will be between 1-2% , but in the following quarters, in the first and second quarters of 2025, we will gain huge momentum,

he added.

He mentioned three points where the government will intervene: (i) earnings, with the workers' credit and the higher minimum wage, (ii) the Sándor Demján programme and (iii) housing subsidies.

• Achieving affordable housing is the first, Orbán said, adding and the biggest problem is in Budapest. The government is planning to take action here, from building dormitories to helping young people get housing, to helping them rent, and there is a ready-made concept for this. A first draft of this was obtained by news portal Telex. We support village housing and house building in the Hungarian Village Programme. People's savings, which have accumulated and cannot be used now to create cheap housing, will be made accessible for home renovation, and bureaucratic obstacles will be "removed".
• Negotiations with the trade unions are going well, we will agree on the minimum wage, and the workers' credit is on its way.
• The third big intervention point concerns small businesses.

Here we want to achieve an increase in size, this will be the Sándor Demján programme.

Capital, resources and soft loans are being provided to SMEs to help them "go one step bigger".

Economic outlook

The domestic car industry has switched to electromobility, and in the second half of the year there will be renewed demand for cars on the world market, and car purchases will increase, the Prime Minister projected:

that's why I dare say that economic growth could be in the 3-6% range.

The long-term growth prospects are bright, Orbán said.