An Internet news Web site, Index.hu, has added up all of the promises made by Hungarian political parties in the run-up to general elections scheduled on April 9 and 23, an AFP report said.
Hungarian political parties had been criticized for stressing the need to cut spending, with the public deficit topping 6.1% of gross domestic product in 2005, while making extravagant promises that would cost billions of euros, the report said.
Among the four parliamentary parties, the opposition conservative Fidesz placed first by pledging up to 3.9 trillion forint (14.7 billion euros) to woo voters, according to Index calculations, the report said.
The report further said Fidesz was followed by the governing Socialists at 1.4 trillion forint (5.3 billion euros).
The liberal Free Democrats, junior coalition partner to the Socialists, had run up a bill of 500 million forint (1.9 million), while the small opposition conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum stood at 240 million forint (912,679 euros), the report said.
