The Hungarian Minister of National Economy Mihály Varga announced that in order to ensure that the European Commission’s excessive deficit procedure against the country is lifted, the government will freeze HUF 92.9 billion in the 2013 budget.

Hungary needs a "new policy course to deliver the required medium-term fiscal adjustment in a sustainable way to support growth and confidence, repair the financial sector, and promote structural reforms to boost the potential of the Hungarian economy."

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded Hungary from BB+ to BB, while keeping stable outlook for the country's debt. The Hungarian currency started to weaken but the Hungary dismissed the downgrading as a “hollow measure”.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission will wait for the approval of the 2013 budget and then there could be further development in the current negotiating stage, Hungary’s chief aid negotiator Mihály Varga said this Tuesday.

Hungarian economics minister György Matolcsy announced a new set of measures to keep the budget deficit on track as the European Union has signalled to them that the first package is not sufficient to fill the hole in the 2013 budget.

A delegation by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, which held talks on precautionary financial assistance to Hungary in the past eight days, will return to Budapest in September, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has stated.

Hungary future IMF negotiator, Mihály Varga, expects formal negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union on a financial assistance program start as soon as early summer thanks to meeting the preconditions for the talks.

Preparatory talks between Hungary's government, the IMF and the European Union on a precautionary loan were interrupted on Friday, Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, spokesman for Economic and Financial Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

Talks between the Hungarian government and international organizations about a financial safety net began this Tuesday. Despite earlier government statements, Hungary is likely to get a credit facility with the same conditions as in 2008.

Attaining the 1.5% GDP growth targeted for 2012 will be "extremely difficult", Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the London School of Economics on Thursday. The EU projects Hungarian GDP to be 0.5% next year.

Brussels expressed its concerns over the Hungarian government’s plan to help people with foreign currency-denominated mortgages by allowing debt pay-off well under the market rate. Austria is infuriated and “firmly rejects” the measure.

The Hungary's Economy Minister György Matolcsy has proposed increasing the value-added tax on luxury items in a letter sent to European Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta, the Ministry of National Economy said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hungary is to further reduce its public debt in October and November, taking it down from 77% of gross domestic product to 73%, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a news conference after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The government's Széll Kálmán Plan seeks to eliminate the danger of indebtedness both at the individual and the national level, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote in his introduction to the program unveiled on Tuesday.

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.