Budapest  - Hungary plans a 1.4-trillion-forint (6.5-billion-dollar) stimulus package to boost its ailing economy, the government said Thursday, after international lenders last month staved off the ex-communist nation's financial collapse.

The proposal is designed to ease Hungary's severe credit crunch, generate more than 9 billion dollars in new investment and create 20,000 new jobs, Economy Minister Gordon Bajnai told members of parliament in Budapest.

Hungary, once a leader in post-communist transformation, is among the hardest-hit eastern European nations in the global financial crisis. High foreign debt and stalled market reforms have made investors wary of Hungary, whose economy was in the doldrums already before the crisis hit.

The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union slapped together a hefty 20-billion-euro (25-billion-dollar) financial rescue package last month, which included an IMF demand that Hungary lower its 2009 budget deficit.

In an extraordinary step, the European Central Bank also offered Hungary a credit line, even though the country has not switched to the euro. (dpa)