Hungary hopes to reach an agreement with the EU authorities by the end of the year on accessing billions of euros in funding to recover from the pandemic, state news agency MTI reported, citing the country's minister for EU affairs.

The European Commission has frozen access to some EU funds for Hungary and Poland due to their governments' stance on migration, discrimination against women and gays, and state control of institutions, including the media and the courts.

Hungarian Minister said Budapest would do its best to sign an agreement on a plan to rebuild Hungary in the second half of the year or towards the end of the year.

He added that the process leading to the signing of the agreement was difficult.

Hungary initially asked for 7.2 billion euros in grants under the EU's pandemic recovery program, but after the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban signaled that he also plans to take advantage of the cheap loans offered under the program, Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, the EU Commission approved billions of euros in Poland's recovery funds. The lack of a similar deal for Budapest and the recently announced additional taxes on banks and energy companies put pressure on Hungarian financial markets, sending the forint to a record low against the Polish zloty this week.