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UPDATE 1-Hungary vote: Fidesz pledges jobs, cbank renewal

Published 02/05/2010, 12:12 PM
Updated 02/05/2010, 12:15 PM

* Hungary needs strong govt, new jobs - Fidesz' Orban

* More state control, supervision needed - Orban

(Adds more comments, detail)

By Krisztina Than and Sandor Peto

BUDAPEST, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Opposition leader Viktor Orban pledged on Friday to lead Hungary out of economic crisis by creating jobs, and vowed to overhaul the central bank and financial supervision if his party won April general elections.

Orban, whose centre-right Fidesz party is well-placed to win parliamentary elections according to opinion polls, said Hungary needed a strong government after eight years of Socialist rule which he said had destroyed the economy.

Fidesz would create a million jobs over 10 years if it wone the election, Orban said, support domestic small- and medium-sized firms and protect Hungarian products to help the economy recover from its worst recession in almost two decades.

"Hungary needs a strong and committed government which is capable of making people forget the shame which the Gyurcsany government brought on (the country)," Orban said.

Socialist Ferenc Gyurcsany stepped down as prime minister in March amid an escalating economic crisis and Hungary has since been governed by a minority Socialist administration led by technocrat Gordon Bajnai.

"Because of the political leadership which has been unable to stand up for national issues, our economy has collapsed, our healthcare system is in deadly peril, social security is crumbling and unemployment grows day by day," he said.

Orban, whose party has repeatedly criticised the central bank for failing to cut interest rates fast enough, said the next government would also have to tackle the central bank and financial oversight.

"We need a government which will renew the central bank and financial supervision as well, because they bear responsibility for having demolished the economy," Orban said.

"Supervision and control by the state is needed, we cannot let the market and banking systems control all fields of life," he also said. However, he did not detail the changes he proposed.

If it wins elections scheduled for April 11 and 25, a key challenge will be how Fidesz uses its broad public support to revive the economy and create jobs at a time when the global economic outlook is uncertain.

Hungary stabilised its public finances with deep spending cuts last year and regained trust with foreign investors after narrowly escaping financial meltdown in October 2008 with the help of a $25.1 billion International Monetary Fund-led rescue loan.

The next government will have to decide whether to sign a new financing agreement with the IMF and EU, as the current rescue deal expires in Oct. 2010. The Socialists, in power since 2002, have lost public backing due to economic mismanagement prior to 2006 and spending cuts since then. Their poll support was at 14 percent versus 43 for centre-right Fidesz in a Median poll published on Jan. 20.

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