The Minister for National Economy believes that the minimum wage could easily reach EUR 1,000 in four years.Continue reading
The 2025 budget is planned with an improving outlook, with the government expecting GDP to rise by 3.4 percent, consumption to grow by 4.3 percent and investment by 5-5.5 percent, the Finance Minister said on Thursday in Budapest at the Portfolio Budapest Economic Forum.
Mihály Varga said that there are no plans to introduce new taxes. He recalled that the abolition of three taxes, the extra profit tax on air traffic, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications had already been announced. They would like to continue this line, he added.
He noted that the government expects a gross wage increase of 8.6 percent next year.
Economic growth would also be helped by an expected 4-4.5 percent increase in retail sales by 2025,
he pointed out.
As reported by Hungary Today, the Hungarian industry is currently underperforming due to the economic difficulties in the country’s main export markets, including the downturn in Germany.
However, the government’s measures to support consumer growth have clearly had an effect: consumption is gradually picking up thanks to real wages, which rose by an average of close to 10 percent in the first half of the year.
In the second quarter of 2024, GDP growth was driven by consumption, as household consumption grew by 1.1 percent compared to the first quarter and by four percent compared to a year earlier, including a 4.2 percent increase in consumption expenditure.
A few days ago Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reportedly announced an economic program during a closed-door parliamentary group meeting. At Wednesday’s press briefing, the government officially announced the 21-point action plan.
The main points of the program are as follows:
With this new program, the government aims to reach an economic growth between three and six percent.
Via MTI, Featured image: Pexels