Orbán: 2021 year for economy protection

Economy protection will determine 2021, due to a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus epidemic and the fight to eliminate its economic effects, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public Kossuth Radio on Friday.

Next year’s budget will therefore also allocate funds to the epidemiological and economy protection funds, Orbán said.

All economic players, including local governments, will have to pull their weight in the protection efforts, Orbán said. “We cry and laugh together,” he said, adding that “local governments are a part of life in Hungary”.

He said that “if the government overlooks somebody staying away from contributing to the efforts, everybody will try and follow suit”. Orbán added that the municipalities will benefit from “significantly” larger budgets next year.

“There is no reason for using the tone we have heard,” referring to criticism of the burden placed on local governments.

On the new National Consultation survey, Orban said the government is expecting a second wave of the epidemic in the autumn. In the coming months, the government will work to establish “points of agreement” as the pillars of protection efforts, he said.

The current coronavirus situation does no longer necessitate a state of emergency, but an epidemic alert must be maintained, Orban said, adding that the operative board coordinating prevention will stay in place, hospitals will continue operating under the new command system and the chief medical officer will have increased powers. He also said that some regulations aimed at protecting seniors will be maintained.

Orbán noted the central European countries’ successful handling of the pandemic, and said that “fast government action, committed doctors and nurses may often be worth more than money”. Concerning the government’s economic measures, Orbán said protective measures had helped save “well over one million” jobs.

A moratorium on debt payments has “left over 2,000 billion forints with the people”, typically helping poor debtors, he said. He noted that negotiations with banks, which are “not enthusiastic about interest moratoriums”, had yielded a solution which the banks also found acceptable. Suspending debt payments will not result in increased interest payments. “If the government is strong, they can strike sensible deals even with the great financiers of the world,” he said.