Concerning the economy, Orbán said inflation, sanctions and the energy crisis had made 2023 “the most dangerous year in a long time”. Hungarians this year “have been working so that things don’t get worse, so that they could protect their prior achievements”, he said. But he said 2024 would be a “hopeful year”, emphasising that “this time we’ll be working so that things get better”.

He said there were already signs showing that this was “not just wishful thinking”, but something that could be achieved. He vowed that the government would “definitely raise pensions by 6% even if it turns out that inflation is only at 5% “.

The increased 13th-month pension will be paid out in February, and economic players have decided to raise the minimum wage for skilled labourers and unskilled workers by 10% and 15%, respectively, he noted.

The prime minister said it was also an encouraging sign that the government had been able to roll out the expansion of its home creation scheme by increasing subsidies for the village CSOK programme, launching the revamped CSOK Plusz home purchase subsidy programme, and increasing the prenatal baby support loan. He welcomed that the share of home owners among people under 40 had reached 75%.

Orbán said Hungary had a vested interest in establishing economic relations with the entire world. He said that though it was clear that “we are part of the West”, it was also “obvious that the fastest-growing part of the world right now is to our east”.

Orbán said economic cooperation with Easterners was therefore in Hungary’s fundamental interest, and the government’s foreign policy needed to support this.

The prime minister said the reason why he had recently travelled to Switzerland and Azerbaijan and was scheduled to visit Argentina next week before going to Brussels was to try to make more room for Hungarian economic players so that they could be as successful as possible abroad, and so that Hungary could benefit from that success.