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Mr. Speaker, Honourable House, Honourable Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In accordance with our constitutional tradition, at the start of the spring session of Parliament I report to the House on the government decisions we have taken since the end of the autumn session, and inform you of the Government’s plans.
Honourable Speaker,
I can report to the House that we have launched the Workers’ Credit scheme. Young people under the age of 25 who are in employment are eligible for Workers’ Credit. Anyone who wants it can get a 4-million-forint interest-free career-start loan. The number of applications received exceeds 10,000 and is growing. This means that in Hungary today, a young person who chooses to work and start working will pay no personal income tax until the age of 25 and can also get a 4-million-forint interest-free career-start loan. I would like to inform you that the Government has launched a rural home renovation programme for people living in settlements with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. There are 2,900 such settlements. A non-repayable grant of 3 million forints will be given. In addition to families, from 1 January pensioners will also be able to participate in the programme, and so pensioners living in rural areas will also be able to renovate their homes with a non-repayable grant of 3 million forints from the Government. The Government has extended the reduced VAT rate of 5 per cent on the sale of new residential property until the end of 2026. The Government has launched the Housing Capital Programme, which is expected to result in an extra 10,000 new homes a year. The Government has made the decision to allow people to use their pension savings to buy and renovate homes. The Government has also decided that in 2025, 50 per cent of the benefits on the SZÉP Card [for non-salary compensation] can be used for home renovation. The Government introduced the possibility for employers to provide their employees with a tax-advantaged housing allowance of 150,000 forints per month. The Government also decided on a new student accommodation building programme in Budapest. New residential blocks will be built for at least 12,000 students, but the plan is to increase this number to 18,000. We are consulting with universities, and these negotiations are encouraging.
Through the Széchenyi Card Programme the Government has decided to provide businesses with preferential interest rate loans of 3 per cent instead of 5 per cent. The Government has decided to launch a 100-billion-forint capital programme for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government has also decided on the “1+1” SME investment stimulus programme to help small and medium-sized enterprises which are planning to invest. The Government has also decided to provide a 50 per cent subsidy for the purchase of equipment by domestically owned micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. I would like to inform the House that the Government has also launched a 350-billion-forint export stimulus loan programme. Effective from 1 January, the Government has increased the VAT exemption threshold from 12 million forints to 18 million forints. This means extra income for businesses. Applications can be made up to the end of February. We are talking about a great many people in 900,000 businesses.
The Government has decided to double the tax credit for families with children in two steps: in the first step on 1 July by 50 per cent; and on 1 January 2026 by a further 50 per cent. As a result of this increase, 20,000 forints can be deducted from taxes and contributions of parents with one child, 80,000 forints for those with two children, and 200,000 forints for those with three children. The Government has decided that parents will not have to pay income tax on infant care and child care benefits. The Government has also decided to introduce full lifetime income tax exemption for working mothers with two or three children. From October 2025 all mothers with three children will be exempt from income tax. For mothers with two children, the income tax exemption will be phased in: from 1 January 2026 mothers under 40 with two children will be exempt; in 2027 they will be joined by those aged between 40 and 50; in 2028 the new rules will apply to those aged between 50 and 60; and in 2029 they will be extended to those aged 60 and over. The Government has decided to raise the parental age limit for baby loans to 35. The Government has also decided to extend its interest rate freeze until the end of June 2025, providing a safety net for 300,000 families.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Honourable House,
These measures are unparalleled in Europe. This is Europe’s largest tax reduction programme. This tax reduction programme represents huge expenditure for the budget. The Government has examined whether we can reduce the budget deficit and public debt with this level of spending. The Government has concluded that it is possible and that Hungary can do it.
Honourable House,
The Government has also decided on wage increases. These are large increases – although we know that wages can never be high enough, because you can always add at least one more to even the highest number. The Government will only implement wage increases that businesses can meet without having to lay anyone off. This is why we have an agreement with employers and workers. Under the agreement, in 2025 we will increase the minimum wage by 9 per cent to 290,000 forints and the guaranteed wage minimum to 349,000 forints. We’ve also agreed to increase the minimum wage by a further 13 per cent in 2026 and by a further 14 per cent in 2027. As part of the agreement, the state will help employers to pay the wage by ensuring that they always pay social contributions to the budget on the basis of the previous year’s minimum wage. With this agreement, Honourable Members, we will be within reach of a minimum wage of one thousand euros, and an average salary of one million forints. Our plan is for the average salary to reach 750,000 forints this year, and to start marching towards 800,000 forints.
Honourable Members,
Teachers’ salaries will be increased again this year. Last year they rose by 32 per cent, and this year they will rise by 21 per cent. This means that a trainee teacher with a university degree will earn 653,000 forints. The average teacher’s salary has risen to 844,000 forints a month. This is more than six times higher than their wages under the Socialists in 2010! I would like to inform the House that the Government is giving 500 billion forints more money for education this year than it gave in 2024. I can inform the House that this year healthcare workers will again receive an increase in their wages. Accordingly, the average salary of doctors will exceed 2.1 million forints, and the average salary of healthcare workers will be 800,000 forints. This means that doctors’ salaries are more than six times higher and health workers’ salaries are four and a half times higher than salaries under the Socialists in 2010. I would like to inform the House that the Government is giving 330 billion forints more to the healthcare sector this year than last year. I can inform the House that the Government has decided to increase the pay of water management workers by 30 per cent. I can inform the House that we have initiated wage increases for those working in the judiciary. Over a three-year period, the salaries of judges will rise to an average of 2.25 million forints per month, court secretaries and clerks to 1.125 million forints per month, and court clerks to a gross average of 850,000 forints per month. I would like to inform the House that we have also decided to increase the salaries of researchers. This year will see a further average increase of 30 per cent across the research network. This will bring the average basic salary for researchers to 800,000 forints, and by 2027 to over one million forints. The Government has also decided to pay police officers, soldiers and other members of the armed forces six months’ firearms bonus with their year’s first salary payment for January 2026.
Honourable House,
In addition to wages, in the first three months of the year the Government is paying 1.1 trillion forints in interest on government bonds. These are retail government bonds, so the interest is going to Hungarian individuals. We are talking about 800,000 account holders, presumably 800,000 families. Whether we count three or four people in each family, it still means millions of people. In January this year the Government paid account holders 295 billion forints in interest, in February a further 480 billion forints, and in March we will pay out a further 300 billion forints. We are now talking about interest on government bonds. The principal on which we pay interest is in addition to this. I would like to inform the House that today there are 14 trillion forints of government securities in the hands and in the pockets of the Hungarian people. I do not think I am wrong in saying that this is at least a European record. This means that, up to this amount, the profit from the loans needed for the functioning of the Hungarian state are not going to foreigners but to Hungarians.
Honourable House,
The biggest antagonist of wage and pension increases is inflation, especially food inflation. I can inform the House that I have instructed Minister Márton Nagy to start negotiations with retail chains. In January retailers increased the price of flour by 43 per cent, milk by 39 per cent, eggs by 35 per cent and cooking oil by 11 per cent. We cannot accept such increases. Unless there is an agreement to reduce prices, we will introduce mandatory prices – and, if necessary, limit commercial profits. We are not happy about this – the desired situation is for trading to operate without state interference. But if the normal order of trade is disrupted, we will intervene. We shall not allow people to be robbed.
Honourable House,
With prices at these levels, pensioners deserve special attention. We have therefore started preparing a VAT refund scheme for pensioners on basic foodstuffs on which VAT exceeds 5 per cent. We will refund VAT on vegetables, fruit and dairy products up to a certain monthly amount. As opposed to reducing VAT, when the money stays with the retailer, this VAT refund can go to where it is intended. To sum up, I can tell you that the decisions the Government has just presented will allow us to achieve a breakthrough in the economy in 2025, after years of war.
Honourable Members,
I would also like to inform the House that we are currently in litigation with Brussels on several major cases. Brussels wants us to repeal the Child Protection Act. I propose that we do not repeal it, but rather take further steps in the area of child protection. The protection of children is paramount. This must also be guaranteed by the Constitution and by the law. The Government proposes that the Constitution should state that people in Hungary are either male or female. And let us enforce the constitutional principle and the elementary human need that no one should jeopardise the healthy development of children and the circumstances arranged by parents for the upbringing of their children.
Honourable House,
We cannot agree with the Brussels bureaucrats on migration either. We do not accept and shall not implement the Brussels migration pact. In punishing Hungary for our anti-migration laws, Brussels is clearly abusing its power. But the punishment unfairly imposed on us still costs less and does less harm than letting in migrants. This is open rebellion on Hungary’s part, and other countries are already following our lead. Europeans are fed up with Brussels bureaucrats forcing migrants on them, and they can’t wait to rebel. I propose that we help them! In Brussels the Hungarian opposition parties – with the exception of Mi Hazánk [Our Homeland] – are also litigating against Hungary. The European People’s Party [EPP], of which TISZA [the Respect and Freedom Party] is a member, and the Party of European Socialists [PES] – of which the Democratic Coalition [DK] is a member – have filed suit against Hungary to take away the EU funds that Hungary is entitled to. I can inform you that within the new financial framework we have already disbursed 3.2 trillion forints of EU money. The money that we are owed and that we have fought for in Brussels is continuously arriving. This is what the people in TISZA, MSZP [the Hungarian Socialist Party], DK and Momentum now want to see taken away. I call on them to withdraw the EPP, PES and ALDE [Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe] petitions against Hungary.
Honourable House, Mr. Speaker,
There are great debates in Brussels about Ukraine’s membership of the European Union. The US election has decided that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO. The fate of Ukraine and its remaining territory is important for Hungary’s security. This question will be settled by the ceasefire and peace negotiations. In my view, the peace treaty must guarantee the security of Hungary and of the NATO member countries; the status of Ukraine – which will once again become a buffer zone – must be regulated accordingly. It seems that this will be decided not only – and perhaps not primarily – by the Europeans. Ukraine’s membership of the European Union, however, is an exclusively European matter. The Government assures the House that Ukraine cannot become a member of the European Union without the Hungarians deciding in favour of it. All I can say is that today there are no conditions for membership, and today it would ruin Hungarian farmers – and even the entire national economy.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable House, Honourable Members,
In 2025 the Government wants not only an economic breakthrough, but also a political breakthrough. For fifteen years Hungary and the Hungarian government have been in a minority on the most important issues. The US election has brought a breakthrough in world politics: anti-migration, pro-family and patriotic forces have gained a majority in the Western world. We Hungarians initiated this change back in 2010, and we have stood by it all the way. The Hungarian government is proud of the pioneering role Hungary has played in this great battle for civilisation. In the West, together with America, Italy, Slovakia and Belgium, we already form the majority for anti-migrant, pro-family and patriotic policies. But a majority is not enough alone: it must be enforced and backed up by strength and power. The Hungarian government is ready to do this. This is why, following the example of the US government, we too must dismantle the network of corruption that dominates the entire Western political and media world. The US government and its President, Donald Trump, have revealed that the US liberal government used billions of dollars to buy influence in other countries – including Hungary. Many, many millions of forints were used to fund migration, gender politics, anti-family forces, and individuals and organisations that attack national sovereignty. This is inadmissible, unacceptable, and even disgraceful – to put it mildly. The information on this is abundant, but still incomplete. We have found several channels through which hundreds of millions of forints were allocated to Hungarian media and public organisations. The whole truth must be revealed. The Government will therefore appoint a commissioner for this task. I propose to the House that, learning from what has happened, it should draft the laws to protect our sovereignty that are not yet in existence today. The Government will close the financial sluice gates of the Soros network. We will end the era of rolling dollars. The Government is ready to go to the extreme limit, and even beyond. So, as well as economic breakthrough, 2025 will be a year of political breakthrough.
I wish you every success for the spring session.
