Budget amendment needed for lifting EDP, says govt official

The 2013 budget will have to be amended to ensure the lifting of the EU excessive deficit procedure against Hungary, an economy ministry official said. State secretary in charge of tax and finances Gabor Orban said the amendment would be necessary "in order to get the European Commission and the European Council recognise the serious and hard work of Hungarian citizens." He insisted that contrary to the commission's macroeconomic and fiscal forecast for Hungary published on May 3, which includes an economic growth forecast of 0.2 percent, the actual figure would be 0.7 percent.