Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave his annual state of Hungary address last week. He offered no new insights, but provided an extensive defence of the government’s policies. Yet, he made a small but nevertheless intriguing concession: from among the many controversial measures the government has thus far adopted, this concession concerned two, the crisis taxes (we include the bank taxes under this heading) and the mortgage repayment plan. Though he still believes they were absolutely necessary, Orbán acknowledged that in an ideal situation these policies would have been adopted with more consultation. It is unclear why of all the players the government has been in confrontation with, these particular ones should receive the benefit of this belated and tiny concession. One reasonable guess is that this, too, is meant to mollify the IMF and other international players. But whether the government will also move to become more conciliatory in policy is still a major question.

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