Hungary’s governing party Fidesz has forced itself to announce an “ultraliberal” economic policy because of decisions it made during its first year in office, according to Péter Oszkó, finance minister under Gordon Bajnai, the predecessor of current PM Viktor Orbán.
Oszkó, who is now CEO of PortfoLion Venture Capital Fund Management Company (PortfoLion Kockázati Tőkealap-kezelő Zrt.), said in an interview with business weekly Figyelő that Fidesz considerably reduced taxes and promised to reduce expenses to the same level, but the latter had yet to happen. For this reason, the party used the private pension fund assets to balance this year’s budget.
The interview comes on the heels of Oszkó’s earlier comments blaming increasing government cutback on the introduction of a “flat” income tax this past January.
