Steven N.The latest budget plan shows how much the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office has been beefed up in the new government structure, as its annual budget will now be almost eleven times higher than in the previous year.
In the previous cycle, only the National Communications Office and the National Concessions Office were a part of Antal Rogán’s ministry, which had an operating budget of 44.8 billion Ft. (US $123.2 million) last year.
But in the new government structure, Rogán is also in charge of civilian intelligence, government IT systems and tourism promotion, as well as the duties of the Prime Minister’s Office, which were previously directly controlled by Viktor Orbán. With these new functions, the Cabinet Office will receive 482.4 billion Ft. ($1.33 billion) from the 2023 budget.
However, expenditures for the government’s communication efforts will only be 12 billion Ft. ($33.0 million) this year instead of the 18 billion Ft. ($49.5 million) spent during the 2021 election year. And Hungary’s intelligence services will not receive significantly more money after leaving the Interior Ministry and going to the Cabinet Office. [444]
