Budapest- Slovakian Interior Minister Robert Kalinak has denied that police acted unlawfully when dealing with ethnic Hungarian football fans earlier this month.

Hungarian Justice Minister Tibor Draskovics confirmed Wednesday evening that he had received a letter from Kalinak about the matter the previous day.

He added that he had accepted an invitation to meet Kalinak in Bratislava. The two ministers were also due to talk briefly in Brussels in Thursday.

Budapest - The European Commission gave conditional approval Tuesday for a consortium led by Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) to purchase MAV Cargo, the freight wing of the state-owned Hungarian railways.

The deal was a[pproved on condition RCA - a subsidiary of the Austrian state railway company OBB - sever all structural ties and review its contractual links with the only other consortium member, the small Hungarian-Austrian railway company GySEV.

The RCA-GySEV consortium won the tender for the privatisation of MAV Cargo in May last year with a bid of 102.5 billion forints (41 million euros), along with a commitment to invest a further 43.5 billion forints (174 million euros) on infrastructure over five years.

Budapest - The Hungarian parliament voted on Tuesday to accept the government's proposed changes to the 2009 budget bill.

The latest budget proposal includes a cap on year-end bonus pension payments and other measures aimed at getting the shaky Hungarian economy onto a firmer footing.

The latest adjustments to the 2009 budget bill, which is expected to be voted through on December 15 were passed by 211 votes to 169.

As it announced on Monday, the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats supported the minority Hungarian Socialist Party's budget proposals, giving the government the necessary majority.

Budapest  - The Hungarian central bank lowered its base rate from 11.5 per cent to 11 per cent in a surprise move Monday.

The bank also issued its latest quarterly inflation report Monday, which warned that Hungary was set to enter a recession next year.

The Hungarian National Bank (MNB), which had in August predicted a 2.6-per-cent growth in GDP in 2009, said that it now expected the economy to shrink by 1.7 per cent to
2 per cent.

The central bank forecast a relatively brief recession, but warned that recovery would be very slow because of the widening economic crisis in countries that form Hungary's main export markets.

Budapest  - Audi said Monday it would suspend production at its Hungarian plant for a month from mid-December, citing a seasonal drop in demand for convertible cars.

The German company said it has no immediate plans to lay off staff.

Meanwhile, another German car maker, Daimler AG, sought to reassure Hungary that it has no intention of cancelling its planned 800 million-euro Mercedes-Benz production facility in Hungary.

Daimler spokeswoman Nicole Rubba told the Hungarian state news agency MTI on Monday that despite a management call for "absolute budgetary discipline" the investment will go ahead.

Budapest - The Hungarian central bank lowered its base rate from 11.5 per cent to 11 per cent in a surprise move Monday.

Hungarian National Bank (MNB) head Andras Simor, speaking shortly after the decision, said members of the rate-setting monetary council had three choices: maintain the existing rate, or reduce it by 50, or by 100 basis points. The overwhelming majority supported the 50 b. p. lowering.

"A reduction of more than 50 basis points would have posed a significant risk to the financial system and the Hungarian economy under the present conditions," said Simor.