Mihály Varga

Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

Mihály Varga has been Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance since 2018. He served previously as the Minister of National Economy, Minister without Portfolio (not being in charge of affairs of one specific ministry but being responsible for special important affairs which are not under the jurisdiction of other ministers), Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office of the Second Orban Government, Chairman of the Committee of Budget Finance and the European Court of Auditors, Minister of Finance of the First Orban Government, Lecturer of the School of Economics in Szolnok University and Member of the European Court of Auditors, etc. He graduated from Budapest University of Economics in 1989.

Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe, with a total area of 93,000 square kilometers and a population of about 9.764 million. Budapest is its capital. Mr. Adair Janos serves as the current president and Mr. Viktor Orban the current Prime Minister. Hungary is a moderately developed country and a member of the OECD. Its economic development ranks among the top in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2019, its GDP reached USD 163.47 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 4.6%, the growth rate jumped from the bottom of the EU 10 years ago to the top.. Its GDP declined by 5.2% in 2020, but the fourth quarter witnessed an 1.1% quarter-on-quarter growth, showing signs of recovery. Hungary is a typical export-dependent economy. In 2019, its dependence on foreign trade was 163%, ranking 10th in the world. Hungarian government has implemented an active policy of introducing foreign investment. There are more than 30,000 foreign-invested companies nationwide with its added value accounting for about 1/3 of Hungary’s GDP and their export volume accounting for over 70% of Hungary’s total export. Hungary is the first European country that has signed a Belt and Road intergovernmental cooperation document with China, and it is also China’s largest investment destination in Central and Eastern Europe region.