(BUDAPEST) - Hungary's government on Thursday presented a 1,400-billion-forint (5.4-billion-euro) rescue plan over two years to help the country's companies tackle the effects of the current economic crisis.

"Over the next two years, Hungarian companies will have access to direct subsidies totalling 1,400 billion forint, thanks to the regroupment of EU funds," Economy Minister Gordon Bajnai said during a national economic forum in Budapest.

The plan will be handed over to parliament for adoption in late December, along with the budget, he added.

"Because of the crisis, companies are receiving fewer credits, so unemployment is rising and markets are shrinking: those are the problems we are facing," Bajnai added.

The economic summit, which brought together political parties, the central bank, the audit office, the Hungarian banking association as well as union and workers' representatives, was called by the government to find solutions to the crisis, which has hit the country particularly hard.

The government's plan includes a scheme to help 2,300 small and medium-sized export enterprises, with direct subsidies of up to 192,000 euros, as well as credit guarantees and favourable interest rates.

To protect jobs, the government is also planning to set up a regional economic crisis management fund, to help maintain employment by lowering social aid contributions and facilitating demands for EU funds, Bajnai added.

Finance Minister Janos Veres noted that the most urgent concern was to reform local institutions as well as the social and fiscal sectors, while maintaining a balanced budget.

The government was not expected to draw from a 20-billion-euro financial support package recently put forward by the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank.

According to Bajnai, the rescue plan will be financed using regular structural funds from the EU and the national budget.

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