Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview V. Public Finance and Management Author(s) Gyorgyi Nyikos Ludovika University of Public Service Budapest Hungary Soos Gabor, Title Public and Private Funds in National Economic Development in Hungary File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Gyorgyi Nyikos Abstract The economic situation in Europe is improving, nevertheless in Central and Eastern Europe many private companies, especially SMEs, are still lacking finances to make sufficient investments that enable them to contribute to economic growth. In this situation public funding, including both EU and national funding, can play an important role in the development of SMEs and also drive forward economic growth in the region. The research focuses on what different public and private funding sources are available in Hungary and how they are being used by SMEs and occasionally larger companies. It is examined what EU funding options exist in the 2014-2020 period, both in the form or non-repayable grants and also financial instruments including loans, equity and combined grants and loans. Besides this, it is investigated on what scale purely national sources are used for economic development and how they compare with EU funds. A special feature of the research is also to see the experience of companies in large Hungarian cities in different regions and look at how their approach to development and experiences compare to each other. The results are obtained, firstly, through desk based research on the available funds and their use and effects from public databases and other publicly available sources. Secondly, questionnaires are to be sent to SMEs to ask about their experience inter alia in using EU and other state versus private funding. Interviews are also to be made with the representatives of some companies. The research is expected to find that due to the lack of private funding or the conditions of the commercial finance, EU and national funding is still necessary to help economic development. The development amongst different cities and regions has been uneven. Cities and regions where there has been significant private investment (e.g. by a large multinational company) have developed faster than others and public funds have not been able to alleviate the differences. However EU funds have certainly provided a significant boost for economic development through supporting SMEs in all regions in Hungary, especially the less developed regions. It is seen from the results that more effort is needed first, to level out differences between regions and secondly to provide incentives for private investment in Hungary.
