The ball is now in the Hungarian court, he said, adding that the cabinet is working on providing answers to recommendations made by the EU and the IMF following their visit to Hungary earlier this summer. Nothing will jeopardise the government's job protection program, not even the IMF, he emphasised.

Hungary cannot help but reach agreement with the IMF, said chief negotiator Mihaly Varga at the senate meeting of the school year opening ceremony of Budapest’s Corvinus University. “We do not have to fear it but can use it smartly to improve the structure of the economy”, he said, adding that there is no impediment to ongoing talks.

Positive market sentiment, declining country risks and the stronger forint are all signs that the prospect of a new IMF loan remains a pillar restoring faith in economic policy, he claimed. Hungary's state debt has been reduced and so has debt in the private and public sectors, the government has put the brakes on foreign-exchange lending, decided on burden sharing for debt repayments and revamped the tax system, Varga said, adding that fiscal improvements achieved since 2010 have been recognised by the EU.

The excess budget deficit procedure against Hungary, in place since its accession to the EU in 2004, may be lifted next year if the country's deficit targets are reached, which is highly probable, he underscored. Varga also described a need to adjust the structure of higher education to better suit market needs.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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