Government to set up working group to review public spending at EU request

Only leftist parties and the EU “want austerity measures”, not the government, the statement said.

The government is setting up the working group at the EU’s request, and in line with its country specific recommendations. “The government continues to stand by its firm decision not to comply with any requests from Brussels aiming to scrap family support or the utility price cap scheme,” the statement said.

The European Commission called on Hungary in May to improve budgetary balance and to scrap the energy support schemes by the end of the year. “We reject that Brussels wants austerity measures and to scrap utility price caps,” the ministry said.

The government will continue to preserve fiscal stability and has set the target deficit at 2.9 percent of GDP in 2024, the ministry said. State debt is expected to fall to 66.7 percent, the statement said.