Hungary is ploughing 20% of its GDP into protection efforts against the novel coronavirus, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said after a meeting of the financial action group coordinating the financial response to the epidemic.
A total of 9,200 billion forints (EUR 25bn) will be available in the years ahead to mitigate the economic effects of novel coronavirus in Hungary, with an emphasis on protecting the labour-based economy, the minister of innovation and technology has said.
The government aims to create as many jobs as the number of jobs destroyed by novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said.
Hungary’s government is setting up a 663 billion forint (EUR 1.8bn) fund to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic and a 1,345 billion forint fund aimed at protecting and restarting the economy, the head of the PM’s Office said.
Hungary will resist falling into the trap of introducing blanket welfare measures during the novel coronavirus epidemic, the prime minister said.
Hungary now targets its 2020 budget deficit, calculated according to the European Union’s accrual-based accounting standards, at 2.9% of GDP, according to a report submitted by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) to Eurostat
The forint started strengthening after a historic low on Wednesday following the central bank’s announcement of a tender for one-week deposits.
Hungary’s budget ran a 958 billion forint (EUR 2.7bn) deficit last year, equivalent to 2% of GDP, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said.
Hungary’s trade surplus for January was revised down to 423 million euros in a second reading of data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).
Hungary’s seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) plummeted to 29.1 points in March from 50.3 in February, showing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (Halpim), which compiles the index, said.
