Analysts said growing imports and the weaker trade balance were in large part due to growing domestic demand and skyrocketing energy prices.Continue reading
Hungary’s trade balance showed a deficit of 91 million euros in February, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Thursday.
Hungary, an export-driven economy where trade surpluses are the norm, has shown a deficit for the eighth month in a row.
Exports rose by an annual 17.7 percent, to 11.403 billion euros and imports climbed 29.2 percent to 11.494 billion.
Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 76 percent of exports and 69 percent of imports.
Takarékbank chief analyst Gergely Suppan said higher industrial output paired with rising factory gate prices are boosting exports, calculated in euros, while strong domestic demand and dearer commodities and energy are lifting imports. The higher commodities and energy prices are hurting Hungary’s terms of trade, although the jump in grain prices is mitigating the effect “to a small degree”, he added.
Featured photo illustration by Márton Király/MTI