Planning in Hungary

Planning

Economic Development

Agriculture

Economic

The Development of National Planning The postwar results of the Hungarian economy are closely linked to the development of national planning. The first three-year plan guided the reconstruction of the economy; it repaired war damage and regained the prewar level of production, while exceeding former living standards of the population through a new distribution of the national income. The subsequent first five-year plan speeded up industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture. The wide-ranging nationalization of the means of production not only was a precondition and a basis for national planning, but it also had a feedback effect creating a strong requirement for further government action. The need for establishing priorities and for nationwide coordination of branch production was a logical consequence of the nationalization. The distribution of nationalized resources and the distribution and redistribution of national income also required central decisions and guidelines. The new situation called for new organizations. In 1947, the National Planning Office was established with the mandate to elaborate national plans and monitor their fulfillment. Later, specialized branch ministries came into being to control and manage nationalized sectors of the economy. Central guidelines assisted the newly established organizations and the management of nationalized enterprises to fulfill their new and complicated tasks.