“The Prime Minister’s office agrees with the proposals of neither [Fidesz MP] Gergely Gulyás nor the National Economy Ministry on the size and increase of excise guarantees,” the office said, adding that “for this reason, it will initiate an amendment to the law which restores the size of the excise guarantee to its level of January 1”.

The Hungarian parliament approved legislation raising the guarantee threshold from HUF 22 mln to HUF 150 mln last November, but later approved amendments that would make the threshold progressive, with the aim of supporting small wholesalers, though only from the start of 2016.

Earlier yesterday, Gulyás, said the progressive threshold would be introduced from March of this year instead, while Fidesz MP Sándor Font said the amendment affecting the change had been tabled for lawmakers’ first session of the year. He also dismissed allegations that the actions had been taken because of any special interest.

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister’s Office, the parliamentary group of Fidesz published a statement, in which Gulyás said that in case the government believed restoring the scale of the excise guarantee to its level of January 1 would result in a better position than the Fidesz MPs’ proposal “the Fidesz fraction will be very happy to support it, as it is the best for family-run businesses”.