Hungarian Parliament Approves 2023 Budget

The ruling party majority of Hungarian Parliament adopted Hungary's 2023 central budget on Tuesday by 135 votes to 54. In next year's budget, the government expects economic growth of 4.1%, a deficit target of 3.5% and inflation of 5.25%.

Earlier, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said the government was counting on several factors: a prolonged war in Ukraine, the impact of sanctions, the consequences of the energy crisis caused by the war, war-related inflation and the unfolding economic crisis in Europe.

The government says it intends to use the budget's resources to support families, protect pensions, safeguard the results of the cuts, strengthen the country's security, protect jobs and support job creation, and keep the economy on a safe growth path.

Opposition parties are very critical of the details and the early timing of the approval of the 2023 national budget. Socialist Party co-chairman Bertalan Tóth called it a budget of uncertainty and plunder. He added that his party had submitted several amendments to the budget. They wanted to increase spending on health care, raise the salaries of nurses and hospital workers, and settle the salaries of teachers while reducing their workload.

Also on Tuesday, Parliament abolished the current monopoly of the state-owned Szerencsejáték [‘Gambling’] Plc. for online sports betting. The decision comes after the Court of Justice of the European Union had ruled that the state monopoly online gambling regulation infringes the freedom to provide cross-border services.