Hungary's economy with its 3.7% growth in 2014 has reached pre-crisis levels, said Minister of State of the Ministry of National Economy András Tállai at the debate of the final report on the 2014 budget.
Industrial output rose 6.2% year-on-year in August and was up 6.6% in the first eight months. Vehicle
production remained the driving force behind growth, albeit it slowed down from previous months, due to the shut-down of car factories.
The growth rate reached a sustainable level already in 2013, and thanks to this, the economy gained further momentum in 2014, he said.
The government introduced measures, improving the balance of state finances and reducing operating expenditures. In the wake of the economic growth, further excess expenditures were approved. These included the expenditures of the maintenance of public roads, the introduction of the electronic public road trade control system (Ekáer), and the capital increase made in Eximbank.
The balance of payments recorded last year with a surplus and the deficit calculated under the EU methodology reached 2.5 % of the GDP, well below the 2.9% target. Investments increased by a record-breaking 14% and consumption increased by 1.8%. Tállai highlighed the sharp rise in employment, by 208,000, the third highest among EU states. Consumers prices on average dropped 0.2% due to decrease in energy and food prices and weak external inflationary environment and the reduction of household utility bills.
State debt decreased to 76.2% compared with 76.8% in the previous year.
Tnaks to debt consolidation process, the debt portfolio of municipalities declined to "insignificant levels", HUF 31.2 billion by the end of 2014, which is around 7% of the debt recorded in the year before. Hungary's balance with the EU showed a significant surplus, HUF 1.7 trillion, around last year's levels.
The Pension Insurance Fund closed last year with a surplus of HUF 7.5 billion, helped by rising growth and the employment. Pension payments accounted for the largest item of expenditure, HUF 2,915 billion in total
The fiscal balance of the Health Insurance Fund was HUF 0.4 billion. Payments amounting to HUF 896.9 billion were received from employment-related contributions which were substantially higher than planned, the main reason being the higher-than-expected increase in the pre-tax wages and earnings.
