The Hungarian government and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) on Thursday signed a strategic partnership agreement that aims to foster a closer cooperation and give lawmakers an ear to private sector proposals.

Hungary should adopt a unified bidding system for R & D if financing is to be tapped effectively, József Pálinkás, Chairman of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, told a innovation conference in Budapest's ELTE University on Wednesday.

Hungary plans to introduce electronic road toll before phasing out the flat-rate toll in the following years, local daily Népszabadság reported on Monday. The vehicles likely to be hit the hardest will be the biggest trucks.

The European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Olli Rehn has contacted the Hungarian government in writing, asking for a list of planned reform steps, the Hungarian business daily Világgazdaság said on Tuesday.

A proposal by the head of the parliamentary group of the governing Fidesz to cut state subsidies for renewable energy is being reviewed by the Ministry of National Development. The draft would alter agreements already negotiated by the Ministry.

Decision-making is usually a complicated matter in the corporate world. Recently, a research has been conducted to examine how the heads of corporations arrive at their decisions in Hungary. The most important results were discussed at a conference.

Holders of mandatory private pensions who face losses unless they switch to the state system by the end of January have made over 200 complaints to the Constitutional Court, the daily Népszabadság said on Wednesday.

All economic priorities of the Hungarian presidency serve to strengthen the position of the European Union, Hungarian Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said at an EP committee hearing in Brussels on Monday.

Hungary's New Széchenyi Plan, an economic development plan, will invest HUF 7,000 billion (EUR 25.5bn) between 2011 and 2014 in various business projects and infrastructure, boosting the investment rate by an annual 5 percentage points.

Hungarian energy group MOL is hiking the price of motor fuels further as of Wednesday, with the wholesale price of gasoline to rise by HUF 5 and that of diesel by HUF 6 per liter. The increase takes local prices to new all-time highs.

Some 53 percent of Hungarians spent less on Christmas preparations this year than last year and only 7 percent said they had spent a significant amount, a survey by Nezopont Institute released on Wednesday shows.

Recent downgrade of Hungary by the international credit rating agency Moody's is completely unjustified, Foreign Minister János Martonyi told the BBC on Wednesday. Moody's downgraded Hungary on Monday to just a notch above junk status.

In July this year, the European Union saw the start of the second half of its current seven-year budgetary period (2007-2013). Overall, Hungary has access to about HUF 4,000 billion (EUR 14.4 bn) left until 2013.

The European Commission projects Hungary's economy will expand by 2.8 % in 2011, unchanged from its projection in the spring. The Commission forecasts that Hungary will meet the 3.8 % public finance deficit target for 2010 but will overshoot the respective targets for 2011 and 2012.

The Monetary Council of the National Bank of Hungary increased the prime interestó rate by 25 basis points to 5.5 percent on Monday with effect from November 30. The base rate had stood at 5.25 percent since April 27.