The state became the largest advertiser in 2016.

It grew even stronger last year by spending some Ft 40 billion on ads, up 37% from the previous year, he said.

State spending on television ads rose nearly 20% last year from 2016.

The advertising market totalled Ft 241 billion in 2017, up 11.5% from a year earlier.

Spending on advertising was still behind the level seen before the global financial crisis, Urbán added.

Online advertising kept its leading role, expanding to 32% of the total, up from 30% a year earlier.