The European Commission supports the new Hungarian government’s crisis-management and reform programme, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels on Tuesday, after meeting Hungary’s Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai.
Hungary is taking appropriate measures to turn the economy around, Barroso said.
Barroso said he had been given guarantees that Hungary would meet the conditions of a 20 billion euro standby loan granted by the IMF and EU last November.
Hungary has been especially hard-hit by the economic crisis, Barroso said, adding that the Commission supports any moves to create jobs and put the country on a sustainable growth path. He said Hungary should bring its economy back into balance in the medium term. He welcomed the government’s measures which have set out to do so.
Barroso said regaining the trust of investors and easing pressure on the forint are important.
He said implementing austerity would not be easy: other countries are struggling with issues of low employment rates, too, and these carry implications for the pension age.
EU membership has been beneficial for Hungary, he said, adding that the use of EU development funding has progressed well. Hungary has drawn 25.3 billion euros from structural funds between 2007 and 2014, he noted.
Bajnai said at the joint press conference that Hungary was in the midst of a “deep economic crisis” which required fast tax cuts and pension reform.
He said the government would implement short-term crisis management measures and plans to reinvigorate the process of making structural reforms. He said the aim was to carry out a growth programme which focuses on work: “more people working, more tax paid,” he said.
He said he travelled to Brussels to seek support from the EU for his government’s crisis management programmes. He added that the EU means firm support for Hungary in times of need.
On another topic, Bajnai said he had discussed with Barroso the need to set up the new European Commission as soon as possible after June elections so that crisis-management on a European level can continue without further ado.
