Brussels, 07/09/2012 ( Agence Europe ) - Hungary will not accept a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) under the conditions set out by the two institutions, said Convervative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday 6 September on Facebook. Orban said , as reported by AFP, that, at that price and with those conditions, the answer is no. He said Hungary didn't need any financial guarantees.
Orban set out his position vis-a-vis the €15 billion loan it is negotiating with the EU and IMF in a video on his Facebook page. After a long spat with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF about the independence (or lack of it) of the Hungarian Central Bank, the Hungarian government said at the end of July that it hoped to reach agreement on a loan from its lenders before the winter. Viktor Orban rejects the conditions laid down by the three international institutions. According to the Nemzet newspaper, the conditions include a reduction in tax and family allowances, introduction of a general property tax, slashing transport subsidies and scrapping the bank tax. This does not, however, signal the end of talks. The ruling party, Fidesz, has given the government a negotiating mandate to draw up new proposals for the EU-IMF talks over the next few days, explained Orban in his video. On Friday, European Commission officials rejected some of Orban's statements and denied several conditions presented as being those submitted end July to the Hungarian government by the troika. A Commission spokesperson, Olivier Bailly, said on Friday 7 September 2012 that the EU and IMF had sent Budapest what he described as a “non paper”, and were awaiting feedback from the Hungarian document. Another European source said that the negotiations with Hungary were continuing, and warned Viktor Orban not to take an irresponsible attitude. The source regretted the way the Hungarian prime minister is abusing the talks for his own domestic policy ends. (SP/transl.fl)