Hungarian Socialist Party leader Ildiko Lendvai has called 2009 a year of successful house-cleaning in the economy, and 2010 a year of responsible decision.
The government has managed “to remove all skeletons from the cupboard”, and compiled a transparent budget with no hidden traps for next year, she told a year-end news conference in Budapest on Tuesday.
There is nothing that would undermine the international community’s confidence in Hungary, she said.
The Socialist leader said the International Monetary Fund and the European Union had reviewed the 2010 central budget and found it in order. She added that she had more trust in the unanimous opinion of international economic experts than in the position of economists commissioned by opposition leader Viktor Orban.
Publishing a report earlier today, the latter panel classified several items of the budget as “fiscal tricks” which would significantly influence next year’s actual deficit.
In response, Lendvai said, “this budget is in order. Whether it remains in order next year will depend on the continuation of the current government’s economic course. If we keep the helm, we can assume responsibility for this budget,” Lendvai said.
Concerning the parliamentary elections scheduled for next spring, Lendvai said that 2010 would be a year to make a responsible decision when Hungarian voters have to choose not only a party but also a political and economic course.
In the election campaign, she said, the Socialists will not make any promise that cannot be verified in 2010.
