Hungary ’s Government recently presented a new fiscal plan for 2010 as part of austerity measures to revive the economy and keep the deficit in check, calling for more taxes on property and wealth.

Finance Minister Peter Oszko told a press conference: “In 2010, thanks to the new fiscal plan, the average salary will increase to 15,000 forint ( € 54) per month, but we will introduce a general property tax.”

Under the new measures, the tax on company profits will be raised to 19% from 16%, while a “solidarity tax” of 4%, introduced in 2006 to help finance austerity measures will be scrapped, Oszko noted. The Government will also eliminate small local taxes to make the fiscal system simpler and more transparent, he said.

Hungary ’s parliament recently passed a new tax bill for 2009 as a first step in a severe austerity programme planned by Premier Gordon Bajnai’s new Government including a hike in value-added tax and pension cuts. His predecessor, Ferenc Gyurcsany, resigned in March, having failed to pass his own belt-tightening plan.

Bajnai’s measures aim to reduce government spending so as to keep the public deficit under three percent of total economic output while getting the economy back on track after its worst slump since the 1930s.

In 2009, the Government forecasts the economy to shrink by -6.7%, with modest growth expected only in 2011.