European Commission raises Hungary 2023 GDP growth forecast

The European Commission raised its projection for Hungary’s GDP growth this year to 0.6 percent, in its winter forecast released on Monday.

The projection was raised from 0.1 percent in a forecast published in November.

The EC said Hungary’s economy contracted by 0.4 percent in the third quarter of 2022 as the impact of earlier fiscal stimulus faded and severe droughts hit agricultural production.

Economic growth is set to pick up gradually as inflation recedes and external demand improves, it said.

Real GDP growth is forecast to decrease from 4.9 percent last year to 0.6 percent in 2023, before recovering to 2.6 percent in 2024.

The EC put Hungary’s average annual inflation at 16.4 percent in 2023 before recovering to 4 percent in 2024.

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Source: MTI