By the end of the year, Hungary can return to a stable growth path. According to Zoltán Lomnici
He put it this way: the EU was not invented for crisis management, the institutional system was not prepared for crisis management methodology. This could also be seen during the pandemic – MTI quotes.
At the beginning of last year, there was hope for recovery from the recession, but by the end of the summer it became possible to realize that there would be a protracted war in Ukraine. According to Zoltán Lominci Ukraine has drifted into a proxy war, and now the great powers are not sitting down to negotiate, as in Yalta, but tacitly it seems as if they have agreed that the prolongation of the war can be good for several actors.
Later, he added: the question arises as to how far the EU sanctions suggest transatlantic friendship, how independent the EU is in crisis management, or whether it is just firefighting again, as during the pandemic.
The gray economy can grow
In connection with the energy and economic crisis caused by the war, he drew attention to the fact that it could lead to an unprecedented growth of the gray economy. It can be seen that financial systems can also be replaced – he referred to the Swift system, whose alternative Chinese and Russian financial institutions have begun to build – and the export of raw materials from the Arab region will also increase in value.
Speaking about the new corruption scandal, he stated that the EU would also need an integrity authority. He pointed out that the fact that the European Parliament and the European Commission or the Council are completely untouched by corruption cases must be taken into account, and that it must be considered credible if they call out corruption somewhere.
Zoltán Lomnici emphasized: the scandal can undermine the authority of the institutions in the rule of law, conditioning and other matters as well, since they are also linked to corruption.
He noted about the EU presidency: France, the Czech Republic and Sweden created their successive presidency programs hand in hand, an important part of which was the need to protect European economic sovereignty during the Czech presidency.
4.7 million people work in our country
Summarizing the data of the past year, Zoltán Lomnici reminded: 4.7 million people work in Hungary, unemployment is 3.6 percent, the manufacturing industry, the service industry, and the construction industry have strengthened, and outstanding development was also visible in the tourism sector.
At the same time, in those areas where the EU was supposed to support the country – for example, agriculture due to drought damage – it did not succeed.
With the arrival of new resources, which is one
“in the framework of a sane compromise”, the national government can fulfill its obligations, such as the development of teacher salaries, which is necessary to maintain growth
– he said.
He indicated: according to the expectations of economic experts, the region could return to a stable trajectory by 2024 and cause positive changes, for example, in the foreign trade deficit by the end of 2023.