Hungary on Sound Footing

The International Monetary Fund sees Hungary’s macroeconomic situation as stable, considers its 2018 growth prospects strong and next year’s draft budget reassuring, the finance ministry said, AP reported. The ministry reacted to the IMF’s concluding statement of its 2018 Article IV mission released on Wednesday after a series of talks in Budapest between June 14 and 26. Among the challenges facing Hungary, the IMF identified the need to strengthen the country’s competitiveness and move higher on the global value chain, the ministry said. In its report, the IMF emphasized the importance of the measures imposed by Hungary with a view to boosting the productivity of small and medium sized companies. Just as during its January visit, the IMF’s delegation once again met with representatives of Hungary’s National Competitiveness Council, the ministry noted. The Hungarian government believes a turnaround in the country’s competitiveness is under way, the ministry said. In its report, the IMF said there was “a need to improve education and vocational training to address skills mismatches, and to continue to reduce the number of participants in the public works schemes” with a view to releasing them to the primary labor market.