Matolcsy has a bad reputation, the economy will not grow enough next year. In this way, it is not mandatory to pay the premium, which would otherwise be roughly HUF 12,000.

Governor of the Central Bank György Matolcsy. Image: Hungarian National Bank / Facebook

The latest forecast of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank has worsened the forecast for next year’s GDP growth, which may or may not mean that pensioners may or may not have to say goodbye to the pension premium, writes the mfor.hu. According to the paper, based on Györgyét Matolcsy’s forecast, the Hungarian economy will expand by 2.5-3.5 percent in 2024.

However, the law makes the payment of the pension premium mandatory only if the GDP growth in November of the given year is expected to exceed 3.5 percent.

However, they note that the law does not prohibit the payment of the extra benefit. When planning the 2024 budget, the government still counted on economic growth of 4.1 percent, which would mean a pension premium of around HUF 12,000 in November. To this end, HUF 20.5 billion was allocated for this purpose in the 2024 budget.

As mfor.hu recalls, during the prime ministership of Gordon Bajnai, in the spring of 2009, the amendment was added to the pension law, according to which if the current year’s GDP growth is expected to exceed 3.5 percent and the budget deficit target is also expected to be met, then in November the government is obliged to pay a pension premium. Those who were already retired in the previous year (for at least one day) and in November of the current year are entitled to this benefit.