This is a festive occasion. Today is Hungarian Business Owners’ Day, and on this occasion we can present the professional awards given by VOSZ [the Confederation of Hungarian Business] to Hungarian business owners. Congratulations! Unfortunately, this prevents me from talking about what I would most like to talk about, because there is an election in four months; but one cannot give a campaign speech on a festive occasion, so now I have to approach things differently.
First and foremost, I would like to thank business owners for their work and achievements. They have achieved the results we have seen over the past year and recent years under extremely difficult circumstances – what we could call wartime conditions. I agree with the previous speakers, and perhaps with everyone in this room, that businesses drive and power the economy. The problem is that there are other players, but the war is blocking them. So while businesses are powering and driving, the war is blocking them. To express the power of this blocking in monetary terms, as a rule of thumb 1 per cent in GDP growth – growth in gross domestic product – represents 400 billion forints in revenue for the budget and the Treasury. And we are now in the region of 1 per cent growth. According to general European calculations, if there were no war, this would be 3 per cent; and if growth were 3 per cent, this would mean an additional 800 billion forints for the budget. Because it is lighter than air, part of this could evaporate, while another part would inevitably be claimed by some group with an interest in its allocation, and which also needs it. But if we get past all this, past the frictional losses and necessary distributions, there would still be several hundred billion forints left that we could put into the Hungarian economy for economic development purposes. So I have to say that the war is hurting Hungarian businesses the most. You should be the ones who feel most strongly that the war is your enemy. Overall, I have to say that even though the war is slowing down and blocking the economy, when you compare the situation in Hungary with that in other Western European countries, in Hungary the war is losing, while businesses are winning. The main reason why in Hungary the war is losing is because we have not given in to it, we have not surrendered, but we have stayed out of this war. We have stayed out much better and more effectively than our Western European friends, who have joined in. They are now in trouble, and will be in even greater trouble. When they meet with their own business owners and quote the same kind of figures that I have just quoted to you, the shortfall there will be even greater than the shortfall here.
The war, Ladies and Gentlemen, is an expensive business. It is no coincidence that those who understand economics best, or whose thinking is most influenced by business – I am thinking of the Americans – have already pulled out. Our Western European friends, however, are going in, they will have to pay the price of war alone, and it will be steep; they are already in a bad position in terms of international competitiveness – and now even more so! But the reason Hungary is not losing out in the war is not only that we have stayed out of it, but also because the war cannot block the economy to the same extent – it cannot completely block it – as in other countries; and the fact that the Hungarian economy has not been blocked to the same extent as, say, the German economic area – which for us is the most important area – is solely thanks to Hungarian businesses.
On behalf of the Government, I would like to thank all business owners who, in these difficult – extremely difficult – times of war, have not given up, have not held back, have not slowed down, have not stopped, have not suspended operations, but have continued, have taken action, have strived, have innovated, have sought opportunities, have given energy, and have thus made it possible for the Hungarian economy to achieve at least 1 per cent growth. If you had not contributed this energy and performance, then no matter how well the Hungarian Minister for Economy distributed the funds, the arithmetic would never have added up, and we would not have been able to announce the latest 11-point, 90–100-billion-forint tax reduction and business support programme for small and medium-sized enterprises. This was possible because the economy, led by business owners, has generated the amount from which we have been able to give 90 billion back to you. This is why I say that this is a victory for business owners. It is also your victory that yesterday we were able to agree on the minimum wage increase for next year. It is also your victory that in these times of war we have been able to strengthen the family support system in Hungary, so that mothers do not have to pay tax, and we are doubling the tax allowance for families with children. And I think it is also a victory for business owners that we have the money to offer 3 per cent home creation and first-time home purchase loans in these times of war, and that we are able to offer loans to businesses at 3 per cent.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
So much for the past and the present. We have gathered here to celebrate, but we cannot avoid talking about the future as well. I would like to say two things about the future. Two factors will determine what kind of year you will have next year. The first is the question of war and peace, which we have already discussed; and the second is what kind of economic policy Hungary will have. And now, without mentioning any party names, I would say that your success and opportunities will largely depend on whether Hungary pursues economic policy of the Right or of the Left. This is a new situation, one we are not used to, as the last fifteen years have seen only economic policy of the Right, and it is very difficult to imagine what it would be like if it were not like this, but the other way around. This is why it is perhaps important to refresh our knowledge and, for the sake of simplicity, to tell you that my experience – which is not short, and I would say spans decades – teaches me that when there is left-wing economic policy of the Left, the essence of it is that politicians always know better where the money should go. Therefore they take as much as they can from those who have it, and, based on their greater knowledge – or their presumed greater knowledge, which they mysteriously call “justice” – they try to distribute the money they have taken from you. This is the economic policy of the Left. In my experience, it has always resulted in bureaucracy, overregulation, welfare benefits, the abuse of those benefits, and resulting corruption, which always – always, time and time again – ends in tax increases. The idea behind economic policy of the Right is that one cannot get ahead without work and results, and that families and businesses who have earned the money know best where that money should go – so we should leave it with them. We should take from them only that which is necessary for our collective needs – from the military to security to public lighting and education – so that we can finance our collective needs from the budget. Such economic policy usually ends in tax cuts. If someone wants to make you believe that there is a third economic policy in addition to these two, do not believe them. Throughout Europe, there are only these two to choose from. When businesses have turned to the Left, they have always lost out, everywhere. Ladies and Gentlemen, businesses operate according to the rule of “priority to the Right”. I suggest that you take this into account, and, if possible, adhere to it.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What is more, this will now be even more the case, because things have become so simplified not only in Hungary, but throughout Europe. We rarely look at Brussels from the perspective of economic philosophy, but in the current situation perhaps this is not unreasonable – and I can safely say that what we see in Brussels is economic policy of the Left. The whole of Europe has shifted towards economic policies of the Left, and continues to do so. This is why we now hear everyone saying something that has become almost a cliché: that Europe is losing its competitiveness. This is not God’s will: we are not falling behind the Americans, the Chinese and the Asians because that is the way it has to be, but because in Europe – I am sitting there, I have seen it for many years, indeed for almost two decades now – they have been trying the left-wing economic policies of the Left. These have resulted in bureaucracy, over-regulation, and even corruption – followed by tax increases.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I therefore suggest that you make good use of the few months ahead of us before the election, think carefully about the options available to Hungary, and make your decision according to the best of your knowledge. I suggest that you do not listen to those who recommend that Hungary converges towards the European Union – because we must move away from it, not towards it. If Europe needs anything, it is for Brussels to converge towards Hungary. According to the laws of gravity this is not so simple, because mass and size are important here. But let us not give up, because Brussels has already converged towards us on the issue of migration: despite Newton’s law of gravitation, the larger has converged towards the smaller. The same will happen in relation to the war. In the end, Brussels will converge towards the Hungarian position. And I am sure that the moment is not far off when Brussels will also converge towards Hungarian competitiveness policy and adopt our competitiveness-enhancing measures, programmes and models, which are keeping the Hungarian economy alive today.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Here in the midst of the celebrations there is one more thing I would like to bring to your attention, which I ask you to pay attention to in the coming period. This is because from the point of view of business owners it is not only the content of regulations which is important, but also the procedures. And consider if the moment should come, which I do not wish for us or for you, when the institution of asset investigations is introduced – something about which I could tell you a lot, because I have been preparing my own asset declarations every year for thirty-five years. Consider you too having to prepare asset declarations as the basis for a wealth tax – because how else could you declare your assets, unless they are registered? That is one thing, but another would be the reintroduction of tax authority procedures that we thought were a thing of the past, such as investigations into people’s wealth: on the one hand, asset declarations; and on the other hand, wealth investigations. This is a pincer trap, and they will catch you in it. And believe me, it is an uncomfortable feeling! Therefore I suggest that you think carefully, read the economic programmes being presented, consider what each one entails, and remember that the country’s current results cannot be achieved on autopilot. The current level of performance requires governmental performance, and I ask you to make your voting decisions after due consideration.
All in all, Ladies and Gentlemen, I can tell you that I want you to preserve the freedom of your businesses, prevent bureaucracy, crushing your businesses, and continue to have an economy in Hungary next year that values achievement.
I wish you a peaceful New Year, a war-free 2026, a wonderful Advent season, and a Happy Christmas!
Thank you for your attention.
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