Saving jobs in two weeks - action plan announced

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has started consultations with major companies affected by the trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced at the Government Information Meeting in Budapest on Wednesday. Gergely Gulyás said that the government still considers the agreement unfavourable and plans to adopt an industrial protection and job protection action plan in the next two weeks to mitigate the damage caused by the agreement.

The minister stressed that the agreement is not only economically disadvantageous for the European Union, but also contains commitments to which the European Commission (EC) could not have committed itself, as it is the exclusive competence of the member states to determine the volume of trade with the United States.

We do not see how this agreement will be enforceable, he noted, adding that the tariffs agreement is extremely damaging for Europe and for companies that do business with the US.

The minister also said that the agreement was under discussion in many countries across Europe.

He added that the Foreign Secretary has spoken to ten major business companies and their assessment of the situation in terms of economic damage is similar or identical to that of the government.

In order to mitigate the damage caused by the EU-US agreement in Hungary, he continued, an action plan for the protection of industry and jobs needs to be adopted.He said this will be done in the next two weeks on the basis of proposals from the companies, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of National Economy.

Gergely Gulyás said that the government still believes that the committee must also account to the member states on the basis of what mandate it has agreed with the United States and how it intends to achieve what it has promised, that 750 billion dollars worth of strategic purchases will be made from the United States.

Why has a more advantageous deal not been reached, when the UK and Japan have also reached a more advantageous deal?" he asked.

Government spokeswoman Eszter Vitályos said

13 projects worth nearly 44 billion forints have been implemented in Hungary in the past period.

He said that the Chinese-owned J-Star Motion Hungary Kft., a manufacturer of hydraulic structures J-Star Motion Hungary Kft. will create 200 new jobs in Kaposvár, with the Hungarian state providing HUF 3.5 billion in funding for the greenfield investment, worth about HUF 25 billion.

He said that Magyar Suzuki Zrt.'s production development and energy efficiency investment had been handed over, with the state providing HUF 1.9 billion in funding for the project, worth more than HUF 9 billion. He added that the state had provided HUF 836 million for the new production hall of Stobag Alunorm Kft. in Sülysáp, thus helping to create 60 new jobs.

The government spokesman said that nine major investments worth 1.4 billion forints had been made in the field of urban development, including the installation of new water treatment technology, the handover of a water theme park and the renovation of roads.

Miklós Panyi, Parliamentary and Strategic State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, at the Government Info press conference at the Carmelite Monastery on 6 August 2025. MTI/Máthé Zoltán

Miklós Panyi, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, said that the fixed 3 percent loan programme, which will start on 1 September, will be the most significant home creation programme since the regime change.

He said the fixed 3 per cent loan scheme will provide meaningful help to all first-time home buyers, and will provide meaningful help to tens of thousands of young people who would not have had the opportunity to do so.

The loan scheme provides security for first-time home buyers because the repayment will remain unchanged for the entire term of up to 25 years, regardless of exchange rate and interest rate risk. The repayment rate is significantly lower than market loans, with savings of HUF 60,000 for a HUF 20 million loan, HUF 90,000 for a HUF 30 million loan and HUF 150,000 for a HUF 50 million loan

- said the State Secretary.

Thanks to the programme, a larger loan can be applied for in proportion to income, making larger properties available to young people, he said. Currently, a loan of HUF 26 million can be claimed for a gross salary of HUF 600,000, Miklós Panyi said, indicating that up to HUF 42 million is available under the Home Start programme.

The 10 percent co-payment will greatly improve the accessibility of real estate for young people, the State Secretary said.

Miklós Panyi explained,

the fixed 3 percent loan programme can be combined with all other family support and home creation programmes, such as the village cheque, the cheque plus, the baby loan. This means that a couple planning to have two children can get a fixed 3 percent loan of HUF 80 million, while a couple planning to have three children can get a fixed 3 percent loan of HUF 100 million for a term of up to 25 years.

Fr 10-10 million of the loan can be written off for the second and third child. Additional discounts, non-refundable subsidies and fee exemptions are available for the village voucher and voucher plus.

The government has launched the website of the fixed 3 percent loan scheme, which will be continuously updated, a newsletter will be launched to introduce the new scheme and a mobile phone application will be developed. A programme office will be set up within the Prime Minister's Office to coordinate and promote new housing construction, the State Secretary said.

In order to accelerate housing development, any investment in which at least 250 dwellings are built and 70 percent of them fall within the subsidy framework can be given a national economic priority rating, Miklós Panyi said.

The government expects stiff competition among banks. The programme will significantly increase the supply of real estate. The aim is to launch 20-25 thousand housing developments across the country in the next year, which could not be built without it, the politician said.

The programme will boost the construction industry, with the government expecting 50,000 new apartments and thousands of detached houses to be built in five years, which will mean investments of 4,500-5,000 billion forints, 10,000 construction jobs and rising tax revenues. The latter will help finance the programme

- he added.

Miklós Panyi was asked whether, since properties bought with the loan can be rented out, the government fears that many people will use the loan to buy homes as an investment, leading to a rise in property prices.

The Secretary of State said that the scheme was introduced because the government, in consultation with several youth organisations, appreciates that young people in their 20s and 30s, for example as scholarship holders or residents, may be living in several cities for a period of time during which they cannot live in the property they bought with the loan. But because the definition of first-time homebuyers is well defined, the scheme is available to young people who are not in a position to buy a property as an investment.

The Secretary of State said:

the government does not expect a big price increase in the property market because of the scheme. According to their survey, there are currently 100,000 properties on the market that meet the programme's criteria, and they expect tens of thousands of properties to be listed that their owners have not seen fit to advertise.

He cited the price cap built into the programme as an important argument against rising property prices, which prevents high-value properties from being bought with this loan.

In addition, the construction of many tens of thousands of homes that fit within the price per square metre cap will start. The government expects to start construction of around 20-25,000 new-build, pre-borrowable homes in the next year. First-time home buyers may decide to wait for the boom in new-build properties instead of buying an overpriced second-hand home.

Miklós Panyi said the government does not plan to raise the HUF 15 million threshold below which young people under 35 buying a home will get a 50 percent discount on the property acquisition tax.

Asked whether linking borrowing to two years of social security status does not benefit young people returning from abroad, he said the rule requires two years of social security status, but only 180 days of that are linked to social security status in Hungary, so social security status in the European Economic Area countries is also recognised. A young person who is thinking of returning home from abroad can do so by subscribing to an apartment under construction, returning home, starting work, and by the time he or she applies for a loan, he or she will have 180 days of Hungarian social security entitlement.

Miklós Panyi also expects competition and further discounts from banks, because the scheme will attract tens of thousands of people, 80-90 percent of whom are young people and therefore valuable customers for banks. Banks have the option to go below the fixed 3 percent under the regulation, he noted.

Speaking about subsidies for housing projects, he said the regulation will be out within days. He indicated that they expect property developers to build these developments not in the most expensive, inner-city districts, but in districts with the best infrastructure, including brownfield areas.

He also said that real estate developers have also started to show interest in cities with county rights, and the Home Start Programme Office will mainly be responsible for assisting, supporting and accelerating these processes.

Asked whether the government is planning a rental housing programme, Miklós Panyi said the government believes in ownership and the principle that the best way to help a young person get started in life is to help them get their first home.

He also said:

the loan application process will include a 10-year property assessment, which means that those who lost their homes during the foreign currency crisis will also be eligible to participate in the scheme.

He added that all applicants will be required to declare their property status when applying for a loan from a bank, and if they apply for a loan without entitlement and this is later discovered, they will have to repay the interest subsidy with a penalty of 5 per cent.

Public servants are promised a million forints a year to help them buy a home

In response to a question, Gergely Gulyás said the government has tried to define as broadly as possible the group of civil servants who will be eligible for the one million forint annual home subsidy.

The eligible group will include employees of the government offices of the capital and the voivodeship, police officers, defence personnel, ministry employees - except ministers and political secretaries of state - municipal employees, teachers, doctors and nurses, regardless of whether they are civil servants, churches or foundations, and employees of the social sector, vocational training and institutions of nationality self-government, employees of constitutional and special status bodies, judges, prosecutors and judicial staff.

About how many applicants are expected and what the cost of the programme will be, the minister said, 18 percent of workers pay loan repayments, which is assumed to be slightly lower for state employees.If 15 percent are expected, it is close to 100 billion forints.

As for the "political attacks"on the Home Start programme, he said it was sad that there could be no consensus on such issues either, as statements suggest that both Tisza and DK would like to see the scheme abolished.

"No question\", the minister said in response to a question on whether ELTE should dismiss Zoltan Fleck, a law faculty lecturer who spoke at an event of the Tisza Party about threatening the president of the republic, at a Tisza Party event, in connection with the fact that the head of state has the right to appoint the leader of the losing party to form the government after the elections, and if the parliament does not vote for the prime minister, he can call new elections.