Hungary's fiscal situation "remains stable", Varga said. The government's "most important goal" is to further reduce general government deficit and state debt levels, he added.
Varga said last year's budget balance had improved after the "drastic deterioration" in 2022 amid the impact of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. He added that pre-financing for European Union-funded projects had added up to HUF 650 billion in last year's budget.
He noted that the cash flow-based budget deficit had narrowed to HUF 4.593 tln last year, despite higher pension expenditures and spending on defense.
Parallel with restarting economic growth, the government will continue to improve balance indicators, reducing the budget deficit and state debt levels, Varga said. Hungary has reserves of over HUF 1.2 tln, he added.
He said investors had offered to buy USD 5.6 bln of a dollar bond Hungary launched on Wednesday.
The Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) sold USD 2.5 bln of the 12-year security.
Varga said no modification of Hungary's financing plan was expected in the coming 5-6 months.
Fielding questions, Varga said the government calculated that GDP could grow around 3.6% this year. He also indicated that the government had to stick to the 2.9%-of-GDP deficit target in the 2024 budget act.
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