Inflation Back to Long-Anticipated Single Digit

The Minister responsible for the Prime Minister’s office Gergely Gulyás had informed at the Government Info regular press conference that at the end of last year the government had set itself a target that inflation should be in single digits by the end of this year. “I am pleased to report that the government can deliver on this commitment – said the Minister.

He continued by saying that

the inflation target of close to ten percent† was already achieved in October. The November forecast is for inflation of around eight percent, while the December forecast is for around seven percent.

An OECD study published this week found that Hungary’s real GDP grew the fastest in the second quarter of 2023, he added. Next year is expected to be a year of economic growth and wage increases.

Gergely Gulyás also spoke about the upcoming EU summit. The government has discussed the latest proposal from Brussels, including the enlargement negotiating proposal. The prime minister is also meeting the German chancellor in Berlin on Monday, and the government believes that it is right to take the same position as they have taken on previous enlargements, that the negotiations on the current, previous enlargements should be completed first. If only because,

we are in solidarity with Ukraine, we have always condemned Russian aggression and we have given substantial financial and humanitarian support, but that does not change the fact that Ukraine does not fulfill the conditions for EU negotiations, nor did it fulfill them before the war,whether it is the promises on nationalities or the Copenhagen criteria or the corruption situation,”

Gulyás said.

Our country’s position is that it is worth offering some kind of differentiated partnership, but there is no other way,” the Minister confirmed. He concluded:

We do not support joint borrowing, the current degree of integration is weakening and joint indebtedness means further integration.

We had a strategy that failed, we need a strategic review of what the European policy and approach should be in the future. We are not the only ones who think that this is justified; many other Member States are also advocating it”.

†Updated: Official figures published on Friday 10 November, put the October inflation figures at 9.9%.

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