The Prime Minister informed the public: the minimum wage will increase by 11 per cent to HUF 322,800 a month, while the guaranteed wage minimum will rise by 7 per cent to HUF 373,200 a month.
Mr Orbán indicated that they would not be able to push the growth of the economy above a certain level as long as “the shadow of the war is here above our heads,” as it had a grave impact on Central Europe and the German economic zone.
Under such international circumstances, it is all the more precious an achievement that rather than the government having to decide, the parties managed to come to an agreement, he pointed out, observing that it also made the conclusion of the agreement more difficult that, in actual fact, a three-year agreement concluded earlier had to be adjusted.
The parties were compelled to adjust the agreement, he said, because due to the war, growth is lower, and the pledges made in the original agreement were not sustainable.
Mr Orbán said it is a major feat that the parties managed to come to an agreement on the amendment of the previous agreement; in his view, this takes much more determination than the conclusion of a contract.
He pointed out that the government itself was an employer and was in the process of implementing sector-specific pay rises which had an impact on this agreement. Teachers, health care workers, the judiciary, the armed forces and the police, municipal workers, culture, social services – these are all areas where there will be a 15 per cent pay rise in 2026 as well. This is combined with tax reductions which primarily improve the situation of families, he added.
He highlighted that the government had facilitated the agreement partly with tax cuts and partly with tax benefits provided for small and medium-sized businesses as part of an eleven-point agreement concluded with the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This “removed from the budget” HUF 90 billion, and so this did not allow for an additional reduction in contributions – which they would have liked to implement – because it could not be accommodated within the boundaries of reasonable fiscal management, he pointed out.
He indicated that they had not abandoned these plans, but they were unable to start the year with them.
The Prime Minister also mentioned – as an element supporting the agreement – the fixed three per cent credit programme for first-time home buyers, saying that while this is not directly connected to wages and salaries, it is connected inasmuch as that for most people the purpose of obtaining an income is to obtain a home of their own, and this is especially so in the case of young people.
Mr Orbán congratulated employers and workers on having concluded the agreement and stressed that the government was happy to sign it because the agreement did not depart from the overarching plan of creating a workfare society, an aim which had guided the cabinet’s measures for 15 years now.
He recalled that compared with 2010, a million more people had jobs today, and took the view that Hungary was in the state of full employment. Today, the shortage of workforce is a more significant challenge for the economy than unemployment.
He indicated that at present there were 65,000 unfilled jobs in Hungary, and next year they would issue 35,000 permits for guest workers.
Even with this, there will remain 20,000 to 30,000 unfilled jobs, for which – for the time being – the government is not issuing further permits for guest workers from abroad, he added.
“We sincerely hope that we will be able to fill these 30,000 jobs from within Hungary, meaning that we expect a further increase in employment,” he said.
At the same time, he pointed out: there are jobs in vain if the people have the feeling that their work is not paid well enough, and if the people generally believe that the value of the work they complete is greater than the wage they receive for it. Therefore, both employers and the state in the capacity of employer are under permanent wage pressure, he added.
He said it is very important that in Hungary the market should play the dominant role in determining wages. Hence the situation in Hungary that it is not the government that determines the minimum wage – though it would have the authority to do so – and this is why the government has made every effort for almost twenty years now to make sure that the parties active on the market come to an agreement on pay rises, he indicated. Mr Orbán observed that it was one of his nightmares that employers and employees were unable to come to an agreement with each other, and that the government would eventually be compelled to decide – as the voice of power – how much the minimum wage should be.
Such a situation may well arise in the future, it cannot be ruled out, and the laws provide for a reassuring settlement also for this eventuality, but this would not be a healthy state of affairs, he laid down.
He also stressed that in the past fifteen years, Hungary had produced triple the EU average regarding the rise in the minimum wage. He recalled that in 2010 the minimum wage had been just HUF 73,000, while the guaranteed wage minimum had been HUF 89,000.
He highlighted that the direction of Hungarian economic policy determined in the past fifteen years – serving the creation of a workfare economy – was sustainable and desirable, a direction to be maintained in the future as well.
This agreement helps both employers and employees appreciate that wages are regulated independently of the government, based on the prevailing market conditions and their own decision, and also helps them continue to accept the government not as a public authority interfering with the development of wages, but more as an economic policy partner, he observed.
The Prime Minister pointed out that not a single governmental economic policy could be successful if it was not supported by employers and workers. And that today in Hungary there is a positively market-friendly, business-friendly, performance-centred economic policy, it is only possible because both employers and employees support the government in its endeavours, he stated.
There is every chance that we may be able to keep the Hungarian economy on the right track, Mr Orbán said in summary.
