Hungary Burdens Banks, Political Parties With Virus Costs (1)

Hungary’s government pledged to slash funding for political parties and hike taxes on banks in its first major budget overhaul since Prime Minister Viktor Orban secured powers to rule by decree this week.

Political parties will lose half of their state funding this year while other steps will increase the burden on lenders and reintroduce a tax on larger retailers, Gergely Gulyas, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s office, said in a video briefing Saturday.

The steps will increase funds available to fight the coronavirus pandemic and rebuild the economy to 1.35 trillion forint ($3.96 billion). The ...