Varga said the cabinet had made proposals for amending the budget, and that the cabinet is ready to fine-tune the job protection plan if necessary.

According to earlier statements, the cabinet aims to keep the bank tax and sector taxes in some form, and will insist on maintaining a flat tax regime.

“There will not be any major surprises in the letter,” a source told Nepszabadsag.

The talks on a potential financial safety net are likely to continue only after the IMF’s annual meeting in early October, Varga told M1’s night-time news programme “Az Este”.

He denied reports of a split within the cabinet over whether an IMF agreement is desirable, saying there is a united stance that Hungary seeks a safety net from the IMF.

Asked about the veracity of Hungarian media reports of the IMF's demands, Varga said the IMF delegation referred during informal meetings in July to the practice applied in other countries, adding that the IMF generally offers the same recipes in such proposals.

The EU and the IMF separately confirmed that they had received the response from Hungary, but gave no further details.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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