Hungary Joins Czechs in Recession on Budget Cuts, Crisis

The Czech economy extended its decline and Hungary returned to a recession in the second quarter as government budget cuts sapped domestic demand and the euro-area crisis weakened exports.

The Czech and Hungarian economies, the second- and third-largest among post-communist European Union members, each contracted 0.2 percent from the first three months of the year, according to preliminary data released by statistics offices in Prague and Budapest today. Gross domestic product declined 1.2 percent from a year earlier in both countries.