Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleHungary's opposition leader proposes a 'New Deal' to boost the economy with investments and policy changes, challenging Orban's leadership.
NAGYKANIZSA, Hungary (Reuters) -Hungary's opposition leader Peter Magyar said on Saturday his Tisza party will launch a "Hungarian New Deal" to revive the stagnating economy with massive investment and predictable policy if it wins elections next year.
Magyar, whose centre-right party has a firm lead over the ruling Fidesz in most opinion polls, poses the biggest political challenge to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who after 15 years in power finds himself struggling to boost the inflation-hit economy.
The risk of steep U.S. tariffs on EU imports also looms large over recovery prospects and Saturday's announcement of 30% tariffs on the EU by President Donald Trump is bad news for the Central European country.
Magyar announced his Hungarian New Deal plan to supporters at his party's congress in the western city of Nagykanizsa.
"We need economic growth, investments, predictable financial and economic policy in Hungary," Magyar said, adding that Tisza would crack down on corruption and buy back state assets that he said had been stolen over the past 15 years.
The main pillars of Tisza's plan will be a major healthcare reform with additional funding of 500 billion forints ($1.5 billion) annually, a large-scale rental flat and home construction programme, a modernisation of state railways using EU and national funds, and investments in energy efficiency for households and in education.
Magyar, a former government insider who burst into Hungarian politics last year, again pledged to unlock some 20 billion euros of suspended EU funds that Hungary has not received for years due to clashes between Brussels and Orban over a perceived erosion of democracy and corruption -- accusations that Orban denies.
The parliamentary election is set to take place early next year, though no date has been set. In June parliament passed Orban's 2026 election year budget, including steep tax cuts for families, a key demographic group for Fidesz.
"People are fed up with this regime. And Tisza is a kind of 'collecting party' which stood behind all this (discontent). People want change," said Edit Piroska Borsi, a retired teacher at the congress.
($1 = 341.6200 forints)
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Additional reporting by Krisztina Fenyo; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
The Hungarian New Deal aims to revive Hungary's stagnating economy through massive investments, healthcare reform, and a crackdown on corruption.
The main pillars include a major healthcare reform with an annual funding of 500 billion forints, a large-scale rental flat and home construction program, and unlocking 20 billion euros of suspended EU funds.
Peter Magyar, the opposition leader of the Tisza party, poses a significant challenge to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, especially as his party leads in opinion polls.
The risk of steep U.S. tariffs on EU imports, announced by President Trump, poses a significant threat to Hungary's economic recovery prospects.
Many people are dissatisfied with the current regime, expressing a desire for change, as noted by Edit Piroska Borsi during the Tisza party congress.
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