Hungary’s parliament has unanimously approved a sharp reduction in lawmakers’ salaries and allowances, backing Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s efforts to curb administrative spending and restore strained public finances.
All 189 lawmakers present in the 199-member National Assembly voted in favour of the bill submitted by the ruling Tisza party.
The legislation will reduce MPs’ monthly base salaries by 40%, bringing them down to around 3,690 euros before taxes. The move fulfils a key pledge by Magyar, who came to power on promises of reform and tackling corruption.
Critics had long accused former prime minister Viktor Orbán of maintaining high parliamentary salaries to placate opposition lawmakers.
Pay Cuts Extend Beyond MPs
The salary reductions will also apply to the prime minister, the parliamentary speaker and members of parliamentary committees. Reimbursements for mobile phone bills will be eliminated, while allowances for office rent, housing and staff will also be cut.
“Besides humanity, it is about self-restraint and humility,” Magyar said while defending the measures.
The legislation also proposes reductions in support and budgetary resources allocated to parliamentary groups as part of a broader cost-cutting package.
Government Seeks Fiscal Overhaul
The salary cuts come as Magyar’s government grapples with a large budget deficit inherited from the previous administration.
Official budget figures showed a 43.5 billion forint (€140 million) surplus in one month, but the cumulative deficit remained at 3.806 trillion forints, equivalent to 90.2% of the government’s full-year target.
Magyar has argued that the savings generated by the parliamentary cuts would equal a full year of operating costs over the legislature’s four-year term.
The government has also pledged anti-corruption reforms and a broader fiscal overhaul as it seeks to stabilise public finances and unlock billions of euros in European Union funding currently withheld over rule-of-law concerns.
Magyar has repeatedly linked Hungary’s fiscal difficulties to alleged corruption during Orbán’s 16-year tenure, while promising wider reforms aimed at increasing transparency and accountability.
