PM calls Hungary strong country

Budapest, December 24 (MTI) - Hungary is a strong nation, which "stands the storms of a crisis" more successfully than several other nations "of more fortunate history and stronger economic fundamentals", Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview published in national daily Magyar Nemzet on Monday.

Hungary s everyday life and political leadership have become more predictable and more stable, with most of the inherited shortcomings being remedied, he said.

Europe is experiencing historic changes, a period of fundamental economic transformation, which Hungary should address by renewing itself to the extent allowed by the government s two-thirds support in Parliament, he said.

Orban said that from 2002 to 2010 Hungary used to be a weak nation that was unable to stand on its feet and had to pay more than justified for the assistance it received from others.

"In view of that burden, it is no wonder that under we fell on the knees. It is a miracle, however, that we could stand up again," he said.

Asked about the pace of transformation, Orban said that policy-makers are rarely able to implement an idea without making corrections on the way. Bringing up the student demonstrations as an example, he said that although the government had not changed its goals, it should choose other instruments for achieving them as the first ones offered were "obviously inacceptable" to students.

Orban said that Hungary s economic indicators are in order, with the single exception of economic growth.

Public debt has declined, the budget deficit has been kept under the sustainably tolerable limit, the employment rate has grown, and both the trade balance and the current account have shown a surplus, he said.

"Economic growth is the only area where Hungary should demonstrate in 2013 that its economic model is successful in international comparison, too," he said.

The strategy of Brussels that each country should resolve its crisis with similar instruments and solutions only holds true of the euro zone member states, Orban said.

Euro zone members should be aware that all steps they take have a direct and immediate effect on all the other members. For the other countries, however, the EU should not prescribe the same economic policy, he said.

Orban said that Hungary s initiatives, including the banking levy, special sectorial taxes, the job protection scheme and cuts in public utilities costs had found supporters abroad, too.

Now that Hungary has stabilised its finances, the country s economy can obviously stand on its feet even without an IMF loan agreement, the prime minister said.

Hungary is strong enough to exactly know the price at which it is worth concluding a safety loan agreement, Orban said.