PM Orban Announces Economic Program: Affordable Housing, HUF 1M Wages, Workers' Loan, Capital Injection for SMEs

Economic policy and the new economic program were in focus in Viktor Orban's speech delivered at the parliamentary group meeting of the governing parties. PM Orban took the view that economic neutrality will bring about a turnaround as early as 2025, and stressed that the government's goal is for Hungary to achieve economic growth above the European Union average.

The Fidesz and the Christian Democrats (KDNP) have started their two-day parliamentary group meeting in Esztergom. According to information obtained by Magyar Nemzet, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced an economic program at the event, which was postponed to a later date than usual due to the flooding.

The world has changed radically since the outbreak of the pandemic and the war, PM Orban  said. To describe this in simple economic terms, we can say that the East is going up and the West is going down. In his opinion, the East will be at the top of the list in the world economy in ten years at most.

Brussels and the Western world responded to this situation by declaring an economic cold war, Viktor Orban pointed out once again. For Hungary, however, this economic cold war is not good. Hungary wants to stay out of an economic cold war. If Hungary wants to be successful, it must be economically neutral, he stressed. Hungary must follow its own path, and must only adopt from the West and the East what is useful and reasonable. We must reject everything that could harm Hungarians.

In his speech, Hungary's prime minister set a precise goal, highlighting that "we need a level of growth above the average growth rate of the European Union". In his opinion, the Hungarian economy can only achieve economic growth above the average of the European Union through pursuing  a policy of economic neutrality. In order to achieve high economic growth, PM Orban believes that the economy requires free trade with both the West and the East. With a policy of economic neutrality, the growth rate of the Hungarian economy can be brought into the three to six percent range, and the new economic policy will put the Hungarian economy on a stronger growth path from 2025.

However, this new type of economic policy also requires new instruments: it needs the agreement of economic actors, chambers, interest groups and workers' organizations, because the government does not want to decide about them above their heads. The government wants to conclude a new agreement with employers and workers on a multiannual wage increase scheme based on economic growth. With this deal, the minimum wage of 1,000 euros and the average wage of 1 million forints will be reached in a predictable manner in the near future.

PM Orban went on to explain that the government would like to double the size of small and medium-sized businesses capable of exporting, and this requires a new economic plan, the Demjan Sandor scheme and capital injections accessible to all SMEs.

He also touched on the workers' loan, announced earlier, saying that besides people with higher education diplomas, skilled labor is also very important. To this end, similarly to the student loan, a workers' loan program will be introduced in 2025, giving young people in work a zero-interest loan. The workers' loan will help young people get a start in life and contribute to a stronger economy.

The speech by the Hungarian premier also included an assessment. In PM Orban's view, war-related inflation and the energy crisis have pushed up property prices in Hungary and Europe. He noted that the majority of Hungarians own their homes, and they primarily want to possess their own apartment or house. In order to achieve affordable housing in Hungary, housing construction needs to be doubled and banks need to reduce interest rates on home loans to below five percent.

All in all, the government will focus on three key points: affordable housing, increasing average wages to 1 million forints, and the Demjan Sandor program and capital injection for Hungarian SMEs, the prime minister summarized.

Following the economic situation report and the announcement of the new program, Viktor Orban went on to speak about the current state of affairs in politics. He took the view that everyone could see on Wednesday that nothing has changed in Brussels. Only those who uncritically support the continuation of the war, accept Brussels' migration policy and open the way to LGBTQ sexual propaganda can be good guys there. Brussels leaders should receive a standing ovation in the European Parliament when they talk about this, he opined. Brussels haven't given up on the goal of forcing migrants on Hungary, and of making Hungary one of the uncritical supporters of the war. They know that they will never achieve this with the national government.

They are now looking for new ones to join those who are already already their indebted allies, with rolling dollars and rolling euros coming. Whoever they pick out, they will raise them on a shield and promise impunity.When Brussels promises impunity, there is always a price to pay, Viktor Orban warned. And the Brusselites' way is to make the Hungarian people pay the price through the abolition of utility bill cuts and the 13th month pension, putting multinationals in a favorable position to the detriment of Hungarian businesses, raising personal income tax, or introducing a property tax. These are all items on Brussels' list of expectations, alongside the support for migration and the war.

"I'm ready to take up the fight, and we will win," Viktor Orban said in conclusion.