House Speaker László Kövér said on Monday that parliament is expected to start debating the 2025 draft budget in mid-November and approve it in mid-December.
Kövér told Inforadio that a precise date was not yet at hand, but he said he was certain that the budget would be approved before Christmas.
Changes to parliamentary procedures meant that the detailed professional debate of the draft budget will take place in the budgetary committee. The plenary session will then vote on the amendment package adopted by the committee, and party groups will be able to propose plenary votes "on a few amendments not featured" in the package, Kövér said.
He also said that the hearing of the new central bank governor is expected to take place during the spring term. Should the head of one of the economic portfolios be nominated, and the two ministries merge, then parliament will have to decide only about the name change for the ministry, he added.
The government's legislation agenda contains 20-30 entries, mostly aiming harmonisation with EU legislation and amendments of long-standing laws, he said. The election system will not be changed, except for a modification of electoral districts warranted by demographic changes since they were drawn in 2012, he added.