Govt To Introduce Measures To Boost SME Growth

  • 23 Dec 2016 8:10 AM
Govt To Introduce Measures To Boost SME Growth
The government is launching a programme to help boost growth in productivity and efficiency among small and medium-sized companies (SME), economy ministry state secretary István Lepsényi said on Thursday.

The targeted measures are set to accelerate SME growth and offer support for hiring more experts and specialists at small firms, he told a press conference.

Lepsényi noted that the SME sector hired 98,000 new people last year, raising the percentage of employees in the SME sector to 72% of a total of 2,915,000 employed by businesses. SMEs generated 53.9% of total 18.35 trillion forints (EUR 59bn) in gross added value and 58% of total revenues generated in the business sector, he said.

SMEs need financing opportunities from grants to capital-based financing, he said. The legal environment must be further developed and the burdens on businesses reduced, he added.

He said the planned cut in corporate tax to 9% will help 400,000 businesses, leaving 145 billion forints with Hungarian companies.

The personal income tax rate for self-employed people will also be cut to 9% next year, and this measure will help more than 180,000 self-employed entrepreneurs, leaving 1-1.5 billion forints in their pockets, he added.

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

  • How does this content make you feel?