Viktor Orbán: Young people to be given tax exemption from 2022

The Hungarian vaccination capacity is much bigger than the availability of vaccines, the Prime Minister said in the programme ‘Good morning, Hungary’ on Kossuth Radio. The PM also announced that people under 25 will receive income tax exemption from 2022 at the latest.

We are not making faster progress not because the Hungarian healthcare would not be able to vaccinate faster and in bulk, but because we do not have enough vaccines

the PM said, adding that

so far 105,728 people have been vaccinated.

He pointed out that Great Britain, which already left the EU, has so far vaccinated about 4 percent of its population, while in the EU the rate is below 1 percent because there aren’t enough doses available.

But in times of trouble, instead of starting to point fingers at Brussels we should start procuring vaccines, the PM said and added that

Hungary can purchase Chinese vaccines in large quantities, and all that is needed is certification by Hungarian health authorities.

He hopes the authorities will provide a clear answer on this within a few days, adding that it was heard at the task force meeting that this vaccine is not known to carry the risk of doing more harm than the problem it is supposed to solve.

The Chinese vaccine could be made available to the population within a few days, Mr Orbán said. He also revealed the coronavirus data from the previous day when 111 people died and 1513 were newly infected. However, 4,717 patients recovered, which is promising because it means that more people are recovering now than getting infected, so we have successfully curbed the second wave of the epidemic.

On the other hand, the third wave barged in on many countries in Europe, which is very bad news.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the fact that the population’s trust in vaccines is constantly growing, and after healthcare workers and care home residents

those over 60 with chronic illnesses will be vaccinated next, accounting for more than 1.7 million people. “We would actually have enough Chinese vaccines to do that if the approval was granted.”

According to a task force estimate, about 1.5 million people could be vaccinated at a "comfortable pace" during one weekend, meaning that "everybody who registers or has registered so far could be vaccinated over the course of one weekend, from Friday to Sunday, and perhaps on Thursday", Mr Orbán explained.

The Prime Minister praised the professionalism of the Hungarian healthcare system, which, he said, did not collapse, nobody had to be left without care, and the resilience of the system proved to be strong enough also by international standards.

Regarding the fact that EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides has asked member states not to negotiate separately with vaccine manufacturers, Viktor Orbán said that more than a hundred Hungarians die every day, so" I don’t need to be told what to do by a Greek commissioner".

About the restrictions he said that "we all want to get our old lives back", but if we move forward at the rate of the procurements arranged by Brussels, we’ll only reach the number of vaccinations needed to lift the restrictions by the end of the summer or the autumn.

However, if the health authorities complete the safety protocol and people accept and choose the Chinese vaccine, vaccination can speed up so it will be possible to get back to our old lives long before the summer.

Mr Orbán commented on the growth in industrial production saying that people want to work, they want to make a living from work, and Hungarian entrepreneurs are already competitive with Westerners, and the government is committed to carry on with its economic crisis management focusing on reducing taxes, saving jobs and boosting investment. He noted that more people worked in December than a year earlier.

Last year central taxes were reduced by 432 billion forints, local business taxes were also reduced, and businesses were left with 180 billion forints, he said, adding that the money from the reduction in local business taxes did not land in the central budget, but it was left with businesses.

He also spoke about the moratorium on loan repayments, which left 3,000 billion forints with families and companies.

He pointed out that the government has started the reintroduction of the 13th-month pension, so pensioners will receive one extra week’s benefit with their February pay; and they have also launched the biggest home renovation and home building program in the history of Hungary.

In addition, Viktor Orbán announced that from January 1, 2022, those under 25 will receive full income tax exemption, which will cost around 130-150 billion forints, but he believes it is important that young people should also be given a major opportunity after old age pensioners.

The PM added that young people’s full income tax exemption should apply up to the average salary.

"If we succeed, our entire crisis management system will be complete" he declared.