As he heads into a less-than-promising 2026 election, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that the state plans to pay an equivalent to nearly 3,000 dollars in housing subsidies to public sector workers, including police officers and teachers, writes Reuters.
The political pledge, announced on social media, follows other spending decisions by Orbán’s government ahead of the election. Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, is expected to face serious opposition. The veteran politician has sought to revive Hungary’s economy after a sharp rise in inflation triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the country’s economy has stagnated for a third straight year.
Orbán said he would pay police officers, teachers, doctors, nurses, soldiers and other public sector workers a subsidy that could be used for mortgage payments or as a down payment on a new home.
A final decision on the matter is expected next month.
Hungary’s budget is already stretched to its limits, and the housing compensation plan comes on top of other spending, such as a cut in personal income tax.
The government has also announced a mortgage subsidy for first-time homebuyers. It is estimated that this will cost up to 443 million dollars a year. Hungarian politicians decided in June to borrow more, partly to cover campaign promises at a time when the economy is weaker than expected.
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