Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said an “economic cold war” was “the worst thing that could happen” to Europe and Hungarians.
in a weekly interview with public radio on Friday, Orbán said an economic cold war presented a “huge danger” to Hungary’s export-oriented economy, and that the government was adopting a policy of economic neutrality to protect families’ standard of living.
He noted that the European Union would take a decision in the course of the day on punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, a measure Hungary opposed. He warned that the measure would harm the EU’s own competitiveness.
He said a cabinet meeting earlier in the week had discussed measures to support the policy of economic neutrality.
Orbán warned of attacks against the government’s policy of economic neutrality, with the aim of pushing the country down the path of blocs, “where there’s no growth, no development and no future”.
He said Hungary didn’t want to return to a time in which the world was divided into blocs, adding that a policy of economic neutrality could boost Hungary’s economic growth to 3pc-6pc.
Orbán said Hungary’s minimum wage could reach EUR 1,000 per month in the coming 2-3 years, while the average wage could rise from around HUF 600,000/month to HUF 1m.
He noted that talks were ongoing between employers and unions on an agreement on minimum wage rises. He added that the economy minister had been tasked with seeing an agreement was reached by year-end.
He said the agreement should extend for several years and result in the average wage reaching HUF 1m/month at the end of the period.
