Hungarian Conservative

The Hungarian price monitoring system, which will possibly be purchased by the Slovak government, is an online database developed by the government and the Hungarian Competition Authority. The system provides consumers with information on the selling prices of individual products.

The minister stressed the importance of maintaining disciplined fiscal policies this year, aiming for an annual average inflation rate of around 5 per cent. He firmly asserted that until the inflation rate returns to a more moderate range, fiscal spending should be limited.

Nearly 16 million tourists spent over 41 million guest nights in Hungary last year, with the revenues of the hospitality sector seeing a double-digit growth, surpassing inflation.

The government’s primary focus for the current year is the restoration of economic growth while continuing to reduce the budget deficit and national debt.

The minister noted a ruling by Hungary’s Supreme Court, declaring that Budapest could not be even partially exempt from its obligation to pay its taxes. Varga said if the Budapest city council failed to meet its obligations, the government ‘will follow the given legal provisions along the clear decisions taken by the judiciary’.

As for 2024: once we have passed the most difficult and dangerous year, we can move on to the next one, the year of sovereignty protection. We who are interested in Hungary remaining a Hungarian country.

At the year-end press conference, PM Orbán explained why he chose to veto the €50 billion aid package to Ukraine at the recent EU Summit, how he views the potential Ukrainian and Swedish NATO accession, and what he believes the biggest struggles of 2023 were. He also talked about what hopes he has for the new year of 2024.

Despite extraordinary expenditures, the government has consistently reduced the budget deficit and the national debt year after year, the Ministry of Finance emphasized in its interim report released on the situation of the central subsystem of public finances, excluding local governments, at the end of November.



According to the Hungarian government, ‘preserving the ethnic foundations is our joint responsibility’, and as long as that exists, the politics based on ethnic groups also has a future, the Hungarian prime minister said.

Hungary’s economy expanded by 0.9 per cent in the third quarter of this year compared with the previous quarter, adjusted data show, and contracted by 0.4 per cent year on year, based on unadjusted data, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

In his regular Friday morning interview with public Kossuth radio, Viktor Orbán addressed issues such as migration, the economy and Ukraine’s EU accession.

During a scheduled press conference, Gergely Gulyás said the government expects inflation to drop significantly by the end of November. Regarding the frozen EU funds, he noted that Hungary is obviously functioning without them as well.

As a result of a series of government initiatives, both households and institutional players have significantly increased their holdings of government bonds. In an unprecedented manner, households now hold a larger amount of government bonds than bank deposits.

Inflation fell for the eighth month in a row after peaking at 25.7 per cent in January. Food prices rose by 15.2 per cent in September, after a 19.5 per cent increase in the previous month.

The director of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) András Balatoni explained that the strict monetary policy, decreasing global commodity prices compared to last year, restrained consumption, and market-boosting measures by the government are increasingly exerting a disinflationary effect.

Viktor Orbán discussed the recently announced pension raise on public radio today. As for the broader topic of inflation, he expressed his conviction that his government will curb it by the end of the year, down to single digits, opining that it could be as low as 4–6 per cent next year.

Mihály Varga pointed out during the introductory economic policy roundtable discussion that the government has taken measures to reduce inflation risks, which have yielded results. This is confirmed by the analyses of major credit rating agencies, which are ‘filled with positive findings,’ he said.

At an extraordinary government press briefing on Wednesday, chief of the PM’s Office Gergely Gulyás said the government may impose a ban on Ukrainian grain imports after 15 September within its own competence if the EC fails to act.

As Japan’s example continues to illustrate, hope and one’s true objective must never be forgotten, let alone given up. For Hungary, as for Japan, national interests and the progress of the nation constitute both the foremost goal and the means to achieve it.

The Ministry of Economic Development said in a statement that the increased demand for government bonds has both directly and indirectly improved the government’s self-financing capability, reduced government interest expenditures, and managed to preserve the real value of citizens’ savings. Additionally, government measures have contributed to the fact that individuals are making more conscious decisions about their savings, turning towards higher-yielding assets in a high yield environment.

The Prime Minister stated that both the European and Hungarian economies are influenced by the Russo-Ukrainian war. If the war were to end, both economies could show their ‘better side.’

For the government, the successful fight against inflation is a key issue as it aims to restore the previous trend of continuous wage growth, disrupted by the protracted war and the misguided sanctions.

Government spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi noted on public radio that inflation decreased to 17.6 per cent in July, representing a 2.5 per cent decrease compared to the previous month, and a 0.9 per cent decrease in food prices. On an annual basis, the combined effect of multiple government measures has practically cut the inflation of food prices in half, she stressed.

Based on the latest data, nearly 4.8 million people are employed in Hungary, and the unemployment rate stands at 3.8 per cent, well below the EU average. The data reflects that the Hungarian labour market remains tight, and employment is in good condition, State Secretary Sándor Czomba stated.

According to the ministry’s statement issued on 4 August, in July the average prices of products in 62 product categories decreased by an average of 7.7 per cent. This reduction was a result of price decreases in 53 product categories within one month. The decrease in food prices had a 0.7 percentage point impact on reducing inflation and a two percentage point impact on reducing food inflation according to the weighting of the shopping basket used by the Central Statistical Office.

The Hungarian currency, the forint celebrates its 77th birthday on 1 August. But in reality, the forint’s history can be traced back to as long ago as the 1320s.

To further intensify price competition, the government decided to raise the level of mandatory discounts from ten per cent to at least 15 per cent starting today.

It is important to remember that, compared to the stable period of 2017–2018, some 80 per cent of the rise in inflation in Hungary could be attributed to external circumstances, and only 20 per cent to strictly domestic reasons. Taking into account the ambivalent effects of the war situation and the ensuing sanctions, these rates are likely to remain important determinants of inflation developments in 2023.

Brussels should emerge from this leadership crisis as soon as possible, and from this perspective, next year will be crucial, Balázs Orbán said in reference to the upcoming European parliamentary elections.

The CEO of BNP Paribas Cardif, Márk István Kiss, noted in the press release presenting the results of the survey that the rising prices and the challenging economic situation have not significantly impacted labour market processes, and the mood of Hungarian employees seems to be stabilising overall.