PM Orban: Intensive Growth Is Expected in Coming Years

"More than forty heads of state and government from Western countries will be arriving in Budapest next week. There has never been such a grand-scale meeting in the Hungarian capital before," Viktor Orban told Kossuth Radio in an interview. The prime minister believes Tuesday's US presidential elections will bring a massive change in the world as he expects Donald Trump to once again become the president of the United States. He also said that the next few years will see intensive growth and Europe's recovery.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Viktor giving regularly weekly interview for Kossuth Radio's morning program October 11, 2024. (Photo: MTI/PM's Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko)

"We produce the world's most advanced cars, we have developed massive capacities in our defense industry and growing performance in the space industry. There is nothing wrong with Hungarian industry," Viktor Orban told Kossuth Radio's Sunday morning program. The Hungarian prime minister pointed out that we have a trade problem: when there is trouble on the world market, our customer base narrows.

The world economy is volatile, but in the coming years electric cars and batteries will be needed. This will lead to an intense growth in the coming year,

he added.

The PM expressed his hope that the BMW plant will be up and running in the coming period, and that the European economy could also recover, provided battery production also starts up and the global economy stabilizes.

If the West can't buy our products, then the East should buy them - this is necessary to restore the economy,

he said, adding that the government has to establish contact as soon as possible with Elek Nagy, the new head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and also thanked the former chief Laszlo Parragh for his work.

 

Wages must be agreed

Employers and employees must agree on wages, and the Chamber's new head can facilitate this process. The PM also added that the new workers' loan program, which will be available from January, means that about three hundred thousand young people will be eligible for the interest-free loan.

Hungary wants to support not only young people in education but also those young people in blue collar work.

Mr Orban noted that currently around 20,000 students in Hungary have student loans, and that the government has helped 50,000 students to obtain a degree in recent years.

But what about those young people becoming laborers? While it is true that they enter into the work force earlier, their start in life is also difficult. We don't want to provide support to the lazy, but in deed, most people want to work.

Although housing difficulties are delaying the start of independent life for young people, the PM said that the recently announced support has helped to alleviate this situation. He also stressed that the laboreres loan will be up to four million forints (nearly ten thousand euros) available to 17-25-year-olds who enter into the work force earlier.

 

Hungarian firms are strong

He said that large companies are stable and large-scale production capacities have been built up. "Construction companies are strong and Hungarian companies are carrying out major projects abroad. As for medium-sized companies, the aim is to enable then to appear in international markets," he added. Smaller businesses are currently finding it difficult to make ends meet, he said, saying that the recently unveiled Demjan Sandor program aims to support these enterprises.

Under the scheme, the state takes a stake in businesses through a deposit loan, thereby increase the capacity of firms through member loans. This is a new economic policy initiative,

the prime minister said, adding that growth of 3-3.5% is expected next year, and that 2025 could prove to be an outstanding year in this respect.

Everyone senses that a new economic policy is needed in the new situation, so new measures are also necessary. These are the Worker's loan and the Dmjan Sandor program.

He said that the EU tenders had also been announced, along with multiple rumors that there was no money, but the prime minister refuted this, stating that there is four thousand and eight hundred billion forints (almost 12 billion euros) in the accounts.

A fantastic year awaits us in 2025,

he added.

 

The world is changing

The prime minister said that next week more than forty heads of state and government from Western countries will be arriving in Budapest, and that there has never been such a large-scale meeting in the Hungarian capital. However, he termed next weeks's US presidential election the most exciting event and is confident that the balance of power in the Western world would change by the end of the year.

On Tuesday the world will change,

referring to Election Day in the US, the PM said that Donald Trump will likely once again become the president of the United States, which could establish a pro-peace and anti-migration majority.

According to Viktor Orban, attacks on the traditional family model would cease, and pro-family policy would once again come to the fore, as the United States would have a pro-peace, anti-migration government, which could also open up new opportunities for Hungary.

For now we are sitting on a stool in the corner with the Americans and Russians on the throne. If the expected turnaround really happens, Europe cannot remain pro-war either,

he added.

Cover photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Viktor giving regularly weekly interview for Kossuth Radio's morning program October 11, 2024. (Photo: MTI/PM's Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko)