Hungary’s anti-immigrant prime minister has announced the government will offer mothers who have at least four children a lifetime exemption from income taxes in a bid to boost birth rates.
Viktor Orban, who has seen regular protests against his government over a recent anti-worker law that has been called the “slave law,” announced the new measure in his state of the nation address.
Mr Orban, who has made his anti-immigration stance a key issue, said the new initiative is designed to “ensure the survival of the Hungarian nation.”
In his state of the nation address, Mr Orban revealed government plans to offer a range of benefits, women under the age of 40 who are marrying for the first time would be eligible for a low-interest loan of more than $36,000 and a subsidy of almost $9,000 towards seven-seater vehicles for families with three or more children.
The prime minister used the speech to launch his right-wing Fidesz party election campaign.
In December, demonstrations were sparked by the passage of laws allowing employers to force people to work up to 400 hours of overtime per year and the creation of new administrative courts, which critics say are a dangerous authoritarian move by the government.
Despite the protests, the ruling party appears to remain well ahead of its opposition in recent polling.
Photo: “2018 12 06 Budapest DSC_0182” by János Korom Dr. >12 Million views is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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