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Economy Minister says 2016 budget dedicated to tax cuts, opposition parties dissatisfied
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Budapest, June 16 (MTI) – Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said the approval of the main 2016 budget figures on Tuesday offer the opportunity that it should be a budget of tax reduction.
He told parliament that thanks to the changes approved, some 230 billion forints will be left in the economy, in the pockets of families, employees and businesses.
The green opposition LMP party said the budget cemented in the government’s social and economic policies, resulting in a growing gap between rich and poor. Lawmaker Erzsebet Schmuck said family income and child support benefits should have been increased, and she criticised the decision not to extend the reduction of VAT to all basic foodstuffs.
Opposition party PM said the government again favours the rich and it is unacceptable that “90 percent of the country is once again worse off” while the top 10 percent enjoy the benefits.
The opposition Egyutt said the flat tax system had failed in Hungary over the past five years. Money left in the pockets of the wealthy has not been reinvested but has simply disappeared, it said.
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) party said the budget leaves VAT at “a record high level”, and that it does not contain benefits aimed at job creation. DK said the budget cuts government assistance for the elderly and that it “does not acknowledge the problems of health-care or education”.