Hungary set to lead EU economic rebound after pandemic, Finance Minister Mihály Varga mentionned after meeting his European counterparts in Lisbon on Friday.

Hungary’s vaccination campaign and the government’s economic response measures to the pandemic have given the country an edge over its peers in the EU, the minister told MTI by telephone.

Varga said he briefed his colleagues on the Hungarian government’s economic protection measures aimed at countering the effects of the pandemic, noting tax cuts, subsidies to boost investment, an extension of a moratorium on service payments debt and job protection program.

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“Thanks to these measures, the unemployment rate in Hungary has remained around 4%, compared to 7.5% on average in the EU,” he said.

Varga said Friday’s meeting justified the government’s economic policies. Meeting participants agreed that an expansionary fiscal policy similar to that pursued by Hungary was needed to promote growth.

“Tax cuts and a reduction in the budget deficit should come next,” he said, adding, however, that there was a debate among European policymakers as to when it was better to revert to more policies. strict.

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He reaffirmed Hungary’s goal that the EU economy should restart as soon as possible, adding that he believed Hungary had a good chance of regaining its position with the other countries in the Visegrád group as as the EU’s “engine of economic growth”.

Featured photo illustration by Noémi Bruzák / MTI