Hungary closed the year 2021 with an investment rating with all three major credit rating agencies, Finance Minister Mihály wrote in a Facebook post.
According to the Minister of Finance, confidence in the country is strengthened by some additional factors as well, among which he highlighted: Hungary repaid $430 million in debt, saving 10 billion forints and significantly shortening the maturity of public debt.
Varga also wrote that Hungary exchanged 1,300 billion forints worth of short-term government bonds for long-term bonds between eight and 20 years, thus further increasing the security of debt financing.
Hungary was the first in the world to issue a Green Panda Bond on the Chinese bond market. The nearly double demand shows that Chinese investors expect good results from the Hungarian economy, he underlined.
The next factor that strengthens such confidence, according to the head of the finance ministry, is that the government increased the country’s financial reserves by 350 billion forints in December, so Hungary may be better prepared for global economic risks.
He also emphasized that with rescheduled investments, the government will save 755 billion forints in this year’s budget, thus improving the deficit-to-GDP deficit target from 5.9 percent to 4.9 percent and further reducing the government debt ratio.
In addition, resources are available for family tax rebates, a 13-month pension, tax exemptions for those under 25, and wage increases.
According to the summary of Mihály Varga, strong growth and improving equilibrium indicators are expected in the next period and the ministry’s work will continue.
