In addition, a 1.1 trillion forint railway upgrade project was also given the go ahead, which will include renovating the Nyugati and Keleti railway stations in Budapest, and creating a circular railway around Lake Balaton, Lázár added.

In other transport-related news, the long distance coach company Volán will purchase 180 new buses for 22-24 billion forints, in line with a proposal made by the economic cabinet.

Lázár said the government had approved a development plan for Pest county, allocating a total of 80 billion forints for developments in that area. He said the government would provide 44 billion forints for the upgrade of the University of Physical Education.

The first phase of the upgrade will cover a revamp of the university’s existing facilities and a new building will be added to it in 2018, Lázár said. He said the prime minister has guaranteed on behalf of the government the implementation of the next phase of Budapest’s Olympic bid.

Regarding the state of the economy, Lázár said 660,000 jobs have been created since 2010 and the government is exploring ways to further boost economic growth. One of the ways to achieve this could be payroll tax cuts, he said.

Commenting on DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány’s remarks from Wednesday suggesting that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and House Speaker László Kövér had been involved in organising the anti-government riots in 2006, Lázár said Gyurcsány’s remarks were “dirty lies”.

Regarding the government’s decision to classify the details of the reacquisition of the Seuso treasures for 30 years, Lázár said the move was necessary so as not to undermine Hungary’s reacquisition of the remaining treasures.

Once the remaining pieces are recovered, the details surrounding their reacquisition will be declassified, he said.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Soós Lajos