Hungary's government said on Wednesday it might moderate some widely criticised policies to please international lenders and reach a deal to prevent its currency and bonds from going into meltdown. Since sweeping to power in 2010, Viktor Orban's conservative Fidesz party has tightened its grip on the media and the top constitutional court, taken over private pension funds and dismantled an independent budget oversight body.
It has also fallen out with the International Monetary Fund and European Union over a law curbing the independence of the central bank, jeopardising aid talks and frightening investors who say a bailout is necessary to stop markets freezing up. Top Hungarian officials acknowledged on Wednesday that a deal was urgently needed and signalled they were open to making concessions on some policies although they would go it alone if no deal was reached.
"We are ready for talks without preconditions, all issues can be on the table," Minister Tamas Fellegi was quoted as saying in the weekly Figyelo. State secretary Gyula Pleschinger, another member of the negotiating team, said Hungary aims to reach an agreement on a credit line with the IMF and the EU to act as a safety net.
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