The IMF says it’s not suggesting that Hungary go further down the road to austerity by making further cuts to its budget. Instead, according to its Budapest representative Iryna Ivaschenko, the country should concentrate on whatever it can do to promote growth. The comments come after a statement by prime minister Viktor Orban that Hungary will not engage in cuts to its social welfare system, jobs and wages.
Bloomberg quotes Eszter Gargyan, a Citigroup economist based in Hungary, as saying Orban’s government wants to avoid accepting a loan from the IMF in order to avoid having to meet its economic and legal criteria. What’s interesting is that the International Monetary Fund says that Hungary already qualifies for a stand-by loan, to be used only if necessary.
