FINANCE MINISTER DRASKOVICS TO LEAVE IN JANUARY?

Sources close to the government claim that Tibor Draskovics, Minister of Finance will leave his post early next year. They say the minister’s relationship to the Premier has deteriorated and his dismissal may be due to the fact that the ministry’s latest deficit plan has been surpassed by the actual state budget deficit.

Tibor Draskovics gained a wide range of authority during the last months of the Medgyessy government and had several conflicts with Ferenc Gyurcsány, then Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs. With the change of premiership there emerged the idea of giving the sack to Draskovics but there was an image of him as a strict executor of fiscal policy which was confirmed by his restrictive measures so Premier Gyurcsány kept him on his post though Tibor Draskovics never became a confidential man.

The other cause of his probable dismissal is the serious deficit which has surpassed the already twice modified plans. The irreal prognoses have undermined the minister’s credibility on the market and destroyed his image. His successor will be probably János Veres, political state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó