Analysts lower Hungarian GDP growth forecast in 2022

Analysts of Takarékbank and Magyar Bankholding lowered their forecast for GDP growth in 2021 to 6.9 percent from 8 percent, the lender said on Friday.

The analysts also adjusted their economic growth forecast for 2022, to 6 percent from 7 percent, mainly due to the global semiconductor shortage.

At a weekly press briefing in January, the prime minister’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyás said Hungary’s economy expanded by 6.5-7.0 percent last year.

The Finance Ministry’s official forecast for 2021-2025, released in December, puts this year’s GDP growth at 5.9 percent.

Takarékbank analysts saw annual inflation at 5.5 percent this year, quickening from 5.1 percent in 2021. They also reckoned that the central bank may raise the base rate to 4 percent in the first quarter.