Judicial branch: Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders: Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), Lajos FUR, chairman; Independent Smallholders (FKgP), Jozsef TORGYAN, president; Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP), Gyula HORN, president; Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), Dr. Lazlo SURJAN, president; Federation of Young Democrats (FiDeSz), Viktor ORBAN, chairman; Alliance of Free Democrats (SzDSz), Ivan PETO, chairman note: the Hungarian Socialist (Communist) Workers' Party (MSzMP) renounced Communism and became the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSzP) in October 1989; there is still a small MMP
Member of: Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EBRD, ECE, FAO,
G- 9, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG,
OAS (observer), OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMIG, UNOMOZ, UNOMUR, UNU, UPU, WEU (associate
partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Gyorgy BANLAKI (since 27 October 1994)
chancery: 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 362-6730
FAX: [1] (202) 966-8135
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York
US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador Donald M. BLINKEN embassy: V. Szabadsag Ter 12, Budapest mailing address: Am Embassy, Unit 1320, Budapest; APO AE 09213-1320 telephone: [36] (1) 112-6450 FAX: [36] (1) 132-8934
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green
@Hungary:Economy
Overview: Since 1989 Hungary has been a leader in the transition from a socialist command economy to a market economy - thanks in large part to its initial economic reforms during the Communist era. The private sector now accounts for about 55% of GDP. Nonetheless, the transformation is proving difficult, and many citizens say life was better under the old system. On the bright side, the four-year decline in output finally ended in 1994, as real GDP increased an estimated 3%. This growth helped reduce unemployment to just over 10% by yearend, down from a peak of 13%. However, no progress was made against inflation, which remained stuck at about 20%, and the already-large current account deficit in the balance of payments actually got worse, reaching almost $4 billion. Underlying Hungary's other economic problems is the large budget deficit, which probably exceeded 7% of GDP in 1994, despite some late-year budget cutting by the new leftist government. In 1995 the government has pledged to accelerate privatization and lower the budget deficit to 5.5% of GDP. It believes this fiscal tightening will reduce the current account deficit to $2.5 billion but at the cost of holding economic growth to only 1%.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $58.8 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 3% (1994 est.)