ADVERTISEMENT

Hungary Backs Exclusion of Defense Spending From EU Deficit Calculation

EU

Image by Shutterstock.com

Finance Minister Mihály Varga told an informal meeting of his European Union peers in Spain that the calculation of member states' accrual-based budget deficits ought to be adjusted to reflect spending on defense, he said in a post on Facebook on Saturday, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

"It would be fair if, in this extraordinary situation, EU rules would not account a country's defence expenditures as part of the Maastricht deficit," Varga said, posting from the Ecofin meeting in Santiago de Compostela.

He argued that Hungary's spending on defense had reached an annual 2% of GDP, while the country had spent over HUF 650 billion to protect its border from illegal migration since 2015.

Erste Bank Hungary Q1 Earnings Close to HUF 29 bln Banking

Erste Bank Hungary Q1 Earnings Close to HUF 29 bln

Hungary Welcomes Extension of China's Visa Exemption Policy Int’l Relations

Hungary Welcomes Extension of China's Visa Exemption Policy

Living's Kassák Terrace and Park West 3 Classified as Brownf... Residential

Living's Kassák Terrace and Park West 3 Classified as Brownf...

Aldi Opening Biggest Store in Budapest Food

Aldi Opening Biggest Store in Budapest

SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL

Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.