However, it is not customary in Western Europe to ask the people about such issues, because the elite reserves this right for itself, the Prime Minister said.Continue reading
A strong entrepreneurial class is the foundation of a strong economy, said the Prime Minister at the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry delegates meeting in Budapest on Friday, after signing an agreement with the head of the organization on cooperation between the government and the chamber.
Viktor Orbán emphasized that he considers the signing of the agreement to be a serious matter, not a formality, and asked participants to see it as a sign of stability and predictability. He emphasized that Hungary’s future depends not only on politics and political parties, but primarily on performance. He agreed with the president of the Chamber that a strong entrepreneurial class is the foundation of a strong economy. There can be no successful economic policy without a strong entrepreneurial class, he underlined.
He recalled that clear goals had been set in the previous agreement: to make the economy more competitive, reduce taxes on labor, support digitization, and expand opportunities for domestically owned small and medium-sized enterprises.
We have delivered on our commitments: we have introduced personal income tax exemption for young people under 25, reduced social security contributions, simplified and made it cheaper to start a business, and restructured dual training to make skilled labor more accessible,”
he explained. He added that since 2010, one million more people are now in work, average wages have tripled, the minimum wage has quadrupled, and the economy has grown many times over.
The government’s economic policy is not flawless, but it has been stable, predictable, and consistent for fifteen years, and the government will achieve its economic goals this year as well, the Prime Minister stated. Listing the government’s most important economic policy principles, he said that the biggest goal this year is to implement Europe’s largest tax reduction program for families, and that whatever happens, they will guarantee that this will be done. He assessed that there is only one serious risk that could destabilize the future of the Hungarian economy, namely Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. This would pose a threat to Hungarian businesses and the national economy, while Brussels’ grand plan is to keep Ukraine alive, he said, asking entrepreneurs to take part in the Voks 2025 referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership.
“We cannot and will not take on the financial burden, nor will we send our EU subsidies to Ukraine, and we will not take on the Ukrainian mafia either.
We will not accept Ukrainian GMO foods or the collapse of the Hungarian social welfare system, which would be the short-term consequence of Ukraine’s EU membership,”
Orbán stressed.
There are plans on the table in Brussels that, under the pretext of supporting Ukraine, would impose demands on Hungary that would destroy our country’s economy, he added. He pointed out that Brussels is constantly demanding that Hungary raise taxes on labor, introduce new green taxes, continuously take out joint EU loans, and is forcing Hungary to over-regulate businesses. “We are not doing any of this,” the Hungarian Government is not Brussels’ executive office, he emphasized, expressing his conviction that the country’s economy must be managed in accordance with Hungarian economic interests. We would rather argue, sometimes even veto, then negotiate and finally reach an agreement, as we did in the case of EU funds, he remarked.
The Prime Minister highlighted that
Hungary has two paths ahead of it: one is the path of tax increases, which is represented by the opposition, and the other is the path of national economic policy, which is on the side of performance and tax cuts.
He indicated that the government’s economic policy can be summarized in five points. The first is that the economy is based on work, not social welfare. In his opinion, only respect for work can move the economy forward. The government’s view is that those who work should be supported, never taxed, he said on the second point. Orbán moved on to the third point, which is that tax cuts are the key to competitiveness. He is convinced that wherever there is a left-wing government, there will be an economic downturn. As he pointed out, the economy is not supported on ideological grounds, so left-wing entrepreneurs cannot be left out either, as they are also part of the national economy. The fifth point is that they will achieve their goals again this year.
Orbán also touched on the Demján Sándor program supporting small and medium enterprises. He recalled that 1,885 businesses submitted applications, requesting a total of HUF 137 billion (EUR 339.4 million) from the state. However, the available budget only allowed for 400 applications to be supported, so it was decided to provide an additional HUF 82 billion (EUR 203.1 million) to the program, bringing its total value to HUF 130 billion (EUR 322 million).
Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Kommunikációs Fõosztály/Fischer Zoltán
