Developments in Hungary’s external assets and external liabilities are particularly important in assessing the external vulnerability of the economy. Focusing mainly on the financing processes, this study presents an overview of the structure of the foreign funds between 1998 and 2012, and...

In its monetary policy decision-making, the central bank of Hungary primarily focuses on the achievement of price stability. Without prejudice to this objective, it supports the maintenance of financial stability and the economic policy of the Government. While the low inflation environment...

The Law on Fiscal Responsibility adopted late 2008 is a new element in Hungarian fiscal policy, although not without precedent. Under the law, the Parliament and the Government limit themselves to prevent high fiscal deficits and a further increase in public indebtedness, experienced in recent...

In this article, the average expenditure of Hungary is compared to that of the other three Visegrád countries. In Hungary, this expenditure is higher by 10 % of GDP, but one-quarter of this is attributable to higher interest expenses, and one-third to revenue factors which simultaneously...

Over the past decade, increasing public debt has become one of the most important problems for the Hungarian economy, significantly constraining the room for manoeuvre for fiscal policy and in some periods even calling into question its sustainability. As a percentage of GDP, gross public debt...

If compliance with a fiscal rule in certain periods requires procyclical fiscal policy, it means that fiscal policy does not mitigate the cyclical fluctuations of the economy, but rather may amplify them, i.e. it is unable to perform its stabilisation function. On the basis of the analysis of...

For several years after 2001, fiscal policy in Hungary was characterised by expansion, boosting the economy through several channels. As a consequence, while the global economy slowed down temporarily between 2001 and 2003, economic growth remained stable at high levels in Hungary. Due to fiscal...

Tax evasion reduces the efficiency of the economy as unequal opportunities of tax evasion leads to an inefficient distribution of resources. In Hungary, based on data for 2005–2006, tax evasion resulted in a transfer of 7.9 per cent of GDP from taxpayers to tax evaders. Following measures...

This article gives an overview of the national fiscal rules in force or recommended for introduction in the Visegrád countries. In the article, we review the various potential elements of the regulation framework, in particular the debt rule as a limit, the balance target, the expenditure rule...

The private pension pillar established in 1998 has generated equally important short-, medium- and long-term effects. This article addresses the short- and medium-term time horizons, which differ from one another. In the short term, the government lost contribution revenues, while its pension...