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International media outlets and experts call Hungary’s GDP growth “better than expected.” According to Finance Minister Mihály Varga, the country’s economic success is “based on work.”
Hungary’s GDP has grown by an annual 6.5 percent in the second quarter, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Wednesday. All branches of the national economy contributed to the growth, except the drought-hit agricultural sector. Quarterly growth slowed from 8.2 percent in the first quarter of the yer, KSH added.
Gergely Suppan, chief analyst at Magyar Bankholding, told Hungarian news agency MTI that the second-quarter growth beat expectations and was among the highest in the European Union.
The Hungarian economy has increased its performance despite the protracted war, and is in a good position in the EU ranking, Finance Minister Mihály Varga reacted in a Facebook video. He added that industry, trade, tourism, the financial sector, and info-communications were performing particularly well.
“The Hungarian economy’s performance is based on work, with more than 4.7 million people in employment and a record low unemployment rate of close to 3 percent,” Varga pointed out.
“We must work with all our might for the rise of Hungary and the Hungarian people, and the work we are doing now will determine what kind of world we will live in after the storms have passed,” the Finance Minister said at an event on Wednesday.
On the war in Ukraine, Varga said that a quick end to the conflict is becoming increasingly difficult to expect. He also pointed out that if peace is not achieved in the foreseeable future, the difficulties will be more serious than ever.
Hungary’s growth data caught the attention of the international media, too. According to Bloomberg, Hungary performed better than expected, “helped by a raft of tax breaks and a cap on fuel prices delivered by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of his landslide election victory in April,” while Reuters noted that “…the economies of Hungary and Romania both expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in the second quarter, signalling that Central Europe’s economies still had momentum in April-June, propelled by industries and consumer demand.”
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