BUDAPEST, March 16 (Reuters) - Hungary must push through the bulk of its fiscal adjustment plans in the first half of the year or risk a currency crisis, Economy Minister Gordon Bajnai told national daily Nepszabadsag on Monday.
"Either we take care of the crisis or the crisis takes care of us," Bajnai was quoted as saying in an interview.
When asked what would happen if his minority Socialist government ran into opposition and failed to push its proposals through parliament, Bajnai said: "Then we could have a currency crisis in Hungary as early as this year, which could pull the economy and society apart."
Bajnai said if Hungary wanted to prevent its recession deepening, it must quickly pass additional tax and spending cut measures and seek rapid euro zone membership.
Hungary's economy is expected to contract by 3.5 percent this year and Parliament is expected to vote later this year on measures that aim to reshuffle around 800-900 billion forints worth of taxes.
The measures, proposed by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in mid-February, aim to lower taxes on labour and corporations and raise taxes on consumption and also aim for some tax cuts starting next year.
As the ruling Socialists govern in a minority, they will need some opposition help to push through tax and spending measures and it is not yet clear if they have the necessary votes.
"It is possible that we need to take measures now that are painful to avoid a much bigger problem later," Bajnai told the paper.
"Investors who finance this country are getting increasingly impatient ... Hungary has not taken significant modernising steps since 1998."
Hungary needed a $25.1 billion International Monetary Fund-led rescue package late last year to avert financial meltdown but the IMF programme ends early next year and analysts say the cabinet must hurry to put its finances in order by the time the IMF money runs out. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, editing by Mike Peacock)