Hungary industrial output climbs 6.5 pc in Jan, Q4 GDP output up 1.6 pc yr/yr

Budapest, March 7 (MTI) – Hungary’s industrial output rose by an annual 6.5 percent in January, preliminary data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Tuesday show. Budapest, March 7 (MTI) – Hungary’s economy grew by an annual 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter and by 1.5 percent adjusted for seasonal and calendar year effects, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a second reading of data on Tuesday.

The rise followed a 0.5 percent decline in December and showed the fastest growth since last August.

Adjusted for the number of workdays, the increase was 1.6 percent.

In a month-on-month comparison, output edged down a seasonally- and workday-adjusted 0.1 percent.

Erste Bank analyst Gergely Urmossy said the pickup in growth was smaller than expected, but PMI points to a continued increase in the coming months. He forecast growth in output of 3-4 percent for the full year.

ING Bank senior analyst Péter Virovácz noted that industrial orders in German had plunged more than 7 percent in January, at the steepest rate since 2009. This will weigh on Hungary’s industrial sector too, he added, projecting full-year industrial output at below 2 percent.

Hungary Q4 GDP output up 1.6 pc yr/yr, 2 pc in 2016

In the full year, GDP grew an unadjusted 2 percent.

Output in the services sector in Q4 climbed by 3.1 percent while farming output jumped 17.9 percent. At the same time, industrial output was down 0.8 percent and construction sector output fell 13 percent.

In a quarter-on-quarter comparison, GDP in the fourth quarter grew by an adjusted 0.4 percent.

In a statement commenting on the KSH data, the economy ministry said the Hungarian economy had grown at a faster clip than the average of the other European Union member states over the past few years. The country has made meaningful gains towards reaching the EU’s level of development, it said.

The ministry expects the economy will grow by 4.1 percent this year on the back of wage rises and government subsidies as part of its home creation scheme. Also, the uptake of EU funding is set to accelerate and industrial output is also improving, the ministry said.

Source: MTI