(BUDAPEST) - Hungary will push forward with austerity measures aimed at reining in spending despite a crisis in the coalition government, Finance Minister Janos Veres said here on Thursday.

"It is inconceivable that we would move away from the most important goals set by the convergence plan, which are to reduce the public deficit to 4.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year and to 3.0 percent in 2009," Veres said.

"The government will be able to move forward on two crucial matters even after changes in the coalition: adopting the 2009 budget and achieving the key figures in the convergence plan," he added.

Hungary is a member of the European Union and is therefore obliged to prepare for adoption of the euro single currency by satisfying qualifying criteria with an economic convergence programme.

Veres's comments come days after the Liberals announced they would split from the coalition government led by Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

The Socialists will still maintain a majority in parliament however, as long as the Liberals do not vote with the opposition right-wing Fidesz party, their arch-rivals.

Under the convergence plan, Gyurcsany prescribed a raft of austerity measures, including tax increases and cuts in household energy price subsidies, that helped bring the deficit down to 5.5 percent of GDP in 2007, from 9.2 percent the previous year, according to preliminary figures.

But the measures also caused growth to slow down to 1.3 percent in 2007 from 4.0 percent in 2006, and inflation to rise to 8.0 percent from 3.9 percent in 2006.

As a result, the two governing parties have seen their popularity drop in polls, with the Liberals registering 1-2 percent support, far below the 5 percent needed to remain in parliament.

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