Speaking on commercial broadcaster TV2’s Mokka program, Rogán stressed that the government continues to view the package — regardless of what the credit line is called — as a kind of safety net which it does not want to draw down. He added that the government continues to aim to pay off the state’s debt and get financing from the market.
Rogán declined to estimate the size of the assistance but said it would be smaller than the €20 billion Standby Arrangement Hungary took out in 2008.
He said the IMF would welcome the Széll Kálmán Plan 2.0, a new version of a year-old structural reform program unveiled on Monday. He added that the plan contained expenditure-reducing structural reforms that were earlier expected of Hungary.
He said it would have been impossible to achieve the scale of fiscal improvement desired by the IMF and EU through spending cuts alone, thus justifying the introduction of five new taxes. Without the revenue-raising measures, a 16% cut in public sector wages and a 18% cut in pensions would have been required, he added.
Rogán said the measures in the plan would raise monthly expenditures of an average Hungarian household by HUF 500-600.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
