Hungary’s government is setting up a 663 billion forint (EUR 1.8bn) fund to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic and a 1,345 billion forint fund aimed at protecting and restarting the economy, the head of the PM’s Office said.
A significant reallocation of funds is needed to mount a successful response to the epidemic, Gergely Gulyás told a government press briefing on Saturday. Contributions to the epidemic response fund will include 50% of the state funding received by political parties this year, taxes on multinational retailers and the financial sector as well as vehicle property taxes paid to local governments. Political parties will have to pay 1.2 billion forints into the fund, taxes on retailers will make up 36 billion forints and banks will be expected to contribute 55 billion forints, Gulyás said. The vehicle property taxes to be diverted from local governments will amount to 34 billion forints. The state budget currently has 378 billion forints in reserves to fight the virus, he said. The measures will enter into effect on April 15 or May 1.
Contributions to the fund being set up to restart the economy will include 992 billion forints diverted from ministry budgets and the 423 billion forints that make up the revenue of the National Employment Fund, Gulyás said.
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