Hungary’s GDP grew by an annual 2.7% in the second quarter of 2015, slowing from 3.5% in the previous quarter, according to preliminary data.
Analysts polled by Portfolio.hu had put the increase at 3%. The Central Statistical Office (KSH) attributed the growth to industrial output and blamed the slowdown on the farm sector. GDP growth was the same adjusted for calendar year effects, but adjusted for seasonal effects as well growth was 2.4%, down from 3.2% in first quarter. The economy grew by 0.5% in the second quarter, edging down from 0.6%, based on calendar year and seasonally adjusted data. K&H Bank chief analyst Dávid Németh said the fresh data indicate that growth could be below 3% in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, too. Takarékbank analyst Gergely Suppan noted that a number of harvest data are still unknown and this could mean a revision of GDP data later. He added that growth could pick up in the second half because of a weak base, impacted by the phase-out of two models at Japanese carmaker Suzuki’s Hungarian plant.
An analysis published by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) on Friday suggests that the budgetary deficit as a percentage of the GDP for 2016 will be 2.2%, slightly higher than the premilinary objective of 2.0%, which is largely due to lower-than-expected tax revenue and incomings from the sale of assets. The prognosis claims that gross public debt could fall to 75.6 per cent of the GDP by the end of 2015, calculated according to the forint/euro exchange rate valid at the end of 2014.
via hungarymatters.hu and nepszava.hu
photos: ksh.hu and nol.hu