Varga Blames Lack of Growth on Withheld EU Funds
Mihály Varga
Image by Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com
Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said Hungary's GDP growth would have been "over 5%" last year had the country been paid its Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding in due time in a statement issued ahead of a meeting with his European Union peers in Brussels on Tuesday, according to novekedes.hu.
"By holding back that funding, the European Commission hurt Hungary's competitiveness and interfered in competition among member states," Varga said.
He noted that Hungary's GDP growth reached 4.6% last year, above the EU average. Varga said a report published by the EC on the first two years of the RRF's operation was "unjustifiably positive," noting that just one-fifth of the facility's resources have been transferred, while the program term is one-third finished.
Some five member states, including Hungary, have not received any RRF funding, he added. Varga also faulted the RRF's credit element for possibly diverting market funding and making it more difficult for member states to borrow independently.
The Hungarian government views the RRF as a "one-off" instrument and is "strongly opposed" to establishing any additional facilities that involve joint EU borrowing, he added.
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