Hungarian Social Roundtable and negotiations with IMF


Social Roundtable organised by the Hungarian Social Forum SR on Monday has supported the hungarian centre-right government’s position rejecting the IMF and EU demands for new social cuts in exchange of a new stake of the stand by loan, at the same time it has invited the hungarian government to continue the talks with the creditors, in order to reach an advantegous compromise for Hungary with IMF. Last week Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told, that his government would not continue the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, but only with EU. The representatives of a very large scale of social and political organisations present at the Social Roundtable have been informed by Professor Péter Róna, a top economist very hostile with the neoliberal doctrine that the main IMF demand formulated in the recently suspended Budapest negotiations was not the social cut, but a reliable policy oriented to the growth and the increasing of the employment in Hungary. This demand is conform with the requirements of national development, so the the refusal to continue the talks would be counterproductive – has argued Rona. The monetary expert has also informed, that while IMF delegation has accepted the extraordinary tax on banks last week becoming law in Hungary, the EU delegation has categorically rejected that mesure and has insisted on  the social cuts without any alternative. IMF has shown more flexibility than EU. The 80 pc of the loan comes from IMF and 20 pc from EU. Money markets are more conditioned by the IMF position than by EU’s. Credibility of EU is very weak since its incapacity to resolve the crisis in Greece – told Rona. Participants at the Roundtable, amongst them Trade Unions, Social Christians, Left Socialist Party representatives of TPT, Green Party, Communist Workers Party, economists and philosophers, and many others have agreed to define as „internationally exemplary” the position of the government rejecting the social cuts and to tax the banks, but have invited the PM to focus on the interests to development of the Hungarian Society, for this reason to reconsider his opposition to the dialogue with IMF. Monday evening Mihaly Varga, the state secretary of the PM has announced at the television, that negotiations continue with International Monetary Fund.+++

Es
27 July 2010