Related News:
Hungary Economic Confidence Falls for Third Month After Export Demand Drop
Hungary’s economic-sentiment index declined for a third consecutive month in July, dropping to its weakest since April 2010, as confidence amid businesses and consumers worsened, research institute GKI said.
The index fell to minus 16.0 from minus 13.9 in the previous month, Budapest-based GKI said in an e-mailed statement. The business confidence index dropped to minus 6.9 from minus 4.4 in June while the consumer confidence index fell to minus 42.0 from minus 41.0 in the previous month.
Industrial output grew at the slowest rate since 2009 in May after a slump in export demand, which has fueled the country’s economic recovery from its worst recession in 18 years. Hungary is looking to the euro region, which buys 60 percent of the products it makes and assembles including Audi cars and Nokia phones, to boost growth.
Sentiment in the industry, whose exports pulled the country out of recession, “deteriorated palpably in July,” GKI said. “The sentiment index in the industrial segment dropped especially significantly, the deteriorating trend has been in place for a quarter now.”
The weakening outlook affects all areas of industry and reflects growing pessimism about production and orders, GKI said. Sentiment in the construction area continued its downward spiral, while the confidence index for retail and service companies improved marginally, the institute said.
Hungary’s economy expanded 2.4 percent on the year in the first quarter, the most since the first three months of 2007.
Industrial production advanced a workday-adjusted 2.6 percent from a year earlier in May, the slowest since December 2009, after rising 9.7 percent in April. Output dropped 0.8 percent on the month.
The GKI indexes are calculated based on a balance of positive and negative answers to questions about the outlook for the economy.
To contact the reporter on this story: Edith Balazs in Budapest at ebalazs1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page