Hungary's Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and his new cabinet were sworn in on Friday after the Hungarian parliament voted in favor of the coalition government and its reform program.

The parliament approved the program by 206 votes to 159 with a total of 21 lawmakers who abstained.

The parliament's acceptance of the program paves way for the new government to tackle the country's huge budget deficit, which Gyurcsany admitted Thursday as being likely to reach eight percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year. It had initially been targeted at 4.7 percent, with a projected 3 percent goal by 2008, to meet the EU guideline.

Gyurcsany retained many ministers from his last government, but the number of ministries has been cut from 17 to 12.

According to the reform program, the new government planned to lay off nearly 50 percent of its public employees as part of an overhaul of Hungary's government and public administration structures.

Gyurcsany's Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free Democrats were re-elected in the second round of the general elections on April 23, gaining 210 seats in the 386-seat parliament.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2006)