Economy 23 September 2025, 1:30pm

The Tisza government would introduce a minimum pension of HUF 120,000 - Péter Magyar

Portfolio

Péter Magyar, President of the Tisza Party, promised pensioners a differentiated pension increase. The party leader said that he would raise the minimum pension to HUF 120,000, as one million pensioners currently live below the subsistence level. Pensions between 120,000 and 140,000 forints would receive a one-time, tiered additional increase under the Tisza government. Magyar also promised to introduce a pensioner SZÉP card and announced that Tisza would be creating 20,000 new places in modern retirement homes, while also increasing home care fees by 50%. András Kármán provided details on the budgetary implications of these measures.

On Monday evening, Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party, announced that they would be making an announcement on Tuesday morning regarding 'significant pension increases and further steps to promote a dignified old age' should they win the 2026 elections.

In addition to Péter Magyar, András Kármán, the party's tax and budget policy expert, also participated in Tuesday's press conference.

According to the party leader, one in twenty Hungarian pensioners lived below the subsistence level in 2010, whereas today it is one in four. The average pension was approximately 75% of the average wage in 2010, but now it barely reaches 50% because pensions have lost their value. Péter Magyar also pointed out that Hungary has experienced the highest food inflation in Europe in recent years.

One million pensioners live below the subsistence level,

according to Péter Magyar.

This figure is similar to a recent estimate by Bankmonitor.hu, which found that approximately 800,000 pensioners are currently living below the poverty line — accounting for 35.3% of all pensioners.

Tisza promises differentiated pension increases. According to Péter Magyar, they have reviewed the budget situation in order to identify potential sources of funding for this.

The party plans to reduce the VAT rate on healthy foods from 27% to 5%, he said. Tisza would also exempt prescription drugs from VAT, which they believe would greatly benefit pensioners.

Péter Magyar promised that the Tisza government would introduce a number of measures concerning pensioners.

Tisza will introduce the Pensioner SZÉP Card, which will be given to 2.2 million people — 97% of pensioners — and can be used for food, medicine, healthcare, and recreation. However, those receiving a monthly pension of more than 500,000 HUF will not be eligible for the card. Those receiving less than HUF 250,000 will receive HUF 200,000 per year, while those receiving between HUF 250,000 and HUF 500,000 will receive HUF 100,000.
Péter Magyar promised that the Tisza Party would introduce a minimum pension of HUF 120,000 for anyone who has worked for at least 20 years. This will benefit 280,000 people, including 160,000 old-age pensioners and 120,000 disability pensioners. The party leader said that these increases are expected to be in addition to the normal pension increase. More than 400,000 pensioners will be affected. (The current minimum pension is HUF 28,500.)
Péter Magyar promised that pensions between HUF 120,000 and HUF 140,000 would receive a differentiated increase. Pensions in the range of HUF 120,000 to 125,000 will increase by HUF 12,000; those in the range of HUF 125,000 to 130,000 will increase by HUF 10,000; those in the range of HUF 130,000 to 135,000 will increase by HUF 8,000; and those in the range of HUF 135,000 to 140,000 will increase by HUF 6,000. This measure will affect 160,000 people.
The Tisza government is set to double the old-age allowance. This measure will affect senior citizens who have not accumulated 20 years of recognised employment.
Tisza would create 20,000 new places in modern retirement homes. The party plans to create 10,000 places in state-subsidised, market-based retirement homes and 10,000 places in state-funded social housing. A significant portion of the investment could come from EU funds, meaning the 400 billion forint investment would only cost Hungarian taxpayers HUF 140 billion.
Tisza plans to raise the home care allowance by 50%. This measure would directly affect 58,000 people, including around 40,000 pensioners and their families. The base amount would increase to HUF 74,940 from HUF 49,960, and the increased amount to HUF 112,410 from HUF 74,940.

András Kármán emphasised the importance of backing up every promise, as this is the only way to ensure that the measures are sustainable, when he spoke about the budgetary implications of the promises.

The SZÉP Pensioner Card is the largest expense, costing HUF 350-400 billion per year.
Together, the pension adjustment to HUF 120,000, the gradual increase in pensions in the HUF 120,000–140,000 range and the doubling of old-age allowances cost approximately HUF 165–170 billion per year.
In modernising the institutional system, the first 10,000 new places are planned to be created on a market basis with state support, i.e. with shared financing. This means that the state would not have to spend money on maintenance. The same would apply to the other 10,000 state-funded social housing spots, for which EU subsidies would be applied for, covering both development and operation. In the most disadvantaged areas, the EU subsidy share would reach up to 85%. Overall, the 20,000 new places could generate up to 13,000 new jobs, and the additional capacity could be constructed within four to eight years. This development could cost HUF 120–200 billion per year, with development costs being more significant initially and operating costs becoming more significant later on.
Increasing home care allowances would result in an additional expenditure of HUF 20–25 billion.

Regarding the promised expenditure, András Kármán said that there are currently hundreds of billions of forints' worth of propaganda expenditure, in the form of national consultations and advertisements by state-owned companies. The Tisza government would cut this expenditure immediately, resulting in savings.

The Hungarian government's spending on advertising campaigns has reached an all-time high, with the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, led by Antal Rogán, signing contracts worth HUF 52.4 billion in the 12 months ending in June 2025, local news portal Telex reported.

Since November 2016, total spending on government communications has exceeded HUF 300 billion, with one-sixth of this amount being spent in the last year alone.

The Cabinet Office has issued dozens of public procurement tenders under the pretext of 'informing citizens about significant government decisions' and 'government communication on international and domestic matters concerning Europe's future'. This represents a significant increase from 2014 when the government centralised state communications to allegedly reduce annual spending from HUF 40 billion.

The current expenditure exceeds this amount by HUF 12 billion, not including additional spending by other ministries, state-owned companies, and institutions. The extensive propaganda campaign has sparked public protest, with tens of thousands demonstrating in Budapest against government propaganda and calling for clean public discourse.

Alphabet, YouTube's parent company, is refusing to comply with the EU's new transparency regulations. As a result, it will stop serving political and public service advertisements in Europe from 22 September. It is not yet known exactly how, when, and in which time zones this will happen, and whether it will be implemented all at once or gradually.

Tisza will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to corruption and overpriced public procurement, also resulting in significant savings.

Hungary's interest expenditure as a percentage of GDP is among the highest in the EU because investors expect higher yields on Hungarian government bonds. However, András Kármán claims that a credible economic policy could save hundreds of billions of forints in interest expenses every year. Péter Magyar added that this could amount to as much as one trillion forints. Kármán also pointed out that the Poles pay 1.5% less in interest expenses than the Hungarians.

Hungary spends more than any other EU country on corporate subsidies, providing unjustified support for companies, including foreign mega-investments. However, small and medium-sized enterprises receive very little of this money. Kármán says that this system needs to be reviewed and the funds reallocated, which would also provide opportunities for savings.

Péter Magyar added that, if EU funds were to be transferred and external conditions were to improve, Hungary could see economic growth of 3-4% per annum. This would result in an annual surplus of HUF 3 trillion, improving the budget position.

Tisza would retain everything that is good or partially good,

Péter Magyar promised, adding that he believes that everyone will be better off with his party's measures.

In response to a question, Péter Magyar said that the promised pension increases are planned for implementation in 2026, which will require the budget to be re-planned, as Tisza intends.

He also said that it is unfair that pensions have become so disconnected from wages and that, in the long term, it is worth considering basing pension increases on economic growth or wage increases. According to András Kármán,

most countries consider wage increases as well as inflation when raising pensions. These best international practices will need to be taken into consideration over time.

Regarding the pension cap, Péter Magyar said that although it affects only a few thousand people, it is worth considering.

Regarding pension increases, he said that, once economic growth picks up, it will be possible to transition from inflation-linked increases to substantial pension hikes.

The new promises of the largest opposition party affecting pensioners would have significant budgetary implications, with almost all of them having a lasting impact on the budget balance. Tisza claims that these promises will result in an additional budgetary expenditure of HUF 655–710 billion. The measures aimed at covering the costs of these steps — savings on propaganda spending, elimination of overpricing in public procurement, savings on interest expenses, reduction in support for mega-investments and surplus resources resulting from faster economic growth — seem less well thought out and, above all, are not sustainable.

Given the current tense political environment and the latest opinion poll data showing an extremely competitive race, it is not surprising that a tsunami of election promises has emerged.

It is also true that, in order to boost their popularity, the ruling parties began spending and making promises before the parliamentary elections, such as the Home Start loan programme, food vouchers for pensioners, income tax exemption for mothers, tax exemption for the infant care fee (CSED) and the child-care allowance (GYES), housing subsidies for public employees, government official salary increases and promised social contribution tax reductions, as well as extra SME subsidies.

Recent months and Tuesday's announcement by the largest opposition party have confirmed that competing political actors are trying to win over as many voter groups as possible by convincing them that they will benefit from certain targeted measures in the short term.

However, all taxpayers will be affected by the medium- and long-term consequences of political competition, failing to meet the budget deficit target and the negative effects of a possible budget reversal. As the parliamentary elections approach in April, it will be interesting to see when and how investors begin to factor in the budget-related risks, and when international credit rating agencies will start to pay attention to these developments.