HungaryTrends: The most important business news – 2nd week

See below main business and financial news from the previous week: 

LABOUR SHORTAGE: ‘WAGE BOMB’ FROM ALDI

As we reported before, labour shortage causes many problems in Hungary and affect almost every sector of the economy. In fact, commerce is among the most affected ones. The reason is simple: more and more work abroad for better wages. As a result, many supermarket chains have decided lately to increase salaries to keep their workforce. However, according to Origo.hu, Aldi dropped a ‘wage bomb’ at the beginning of the year. The company announced that from 2018 on each experienced shop assistant will receive 353 thousand (EUR 1140) monthly gross salary. Read more HERE.

THE FIRST AIRPORT HOTEL OF BUDAPEST OPENED

In January, the first hotel in Hungary that has a direct connection to the airport’s terminals was opened. It is named ibis Styles Budapest Airport Hotel. Read more HERE.

HUNGARIAN TRADE AND CULTURAL CENTER STARTS OPERATION IN BANGKOK

The Hungarian Trade and Cultural centre started operating in the Thai capital. There has been a brisk relationship between Thailand and Hungary since the middle of the nineties, Thailand has been one of the favourite exotic destinations for Hungarian travellers. Read more HERE.

ADVANCE PAYMENTS ON EU FUNDING LIFT GEN GOVERNMENT DEFICIT

Hungary’s cash flow-based budget deficit, excluding local councils, ran a 1,973.9 billion forint (EUR 6.4bn) deficit at the end of December, the economy ministry said. The deficit reached 169.2 percent of the 1,166.4 billion forint full-year target, widening on advance payments on European Union funding. While total expenditures on EU programmes were over 2,555 billion forints last year, transfers from Brussels reached just 1,015 billion forints.

HUNGARY CPI EDGES DOWN TO 2.1 PC IN DEC

Consumer prices in Hungary rose by 2.1 percent year-on-year in December, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said. For the full year, consumer prices were up 2.4 percent, still well under the central bank’s 3 percent +/-1 percentage point mid-term target.

AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR WEIGHS ON INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT GROWTH

Growth of Hungary’s industrial output slowed to 3.4 percent year-on-year in November from 7.6 percent in the previous month as output of the automotive sector declined by 2.8 percent, KSH said in a detailed reading of data.

ADA TO INVEST HUF 5.2BN IN HUNGARY EXPANSION

Austrian-owned furniture maker Ada said it will invest 5.2 billion forints (EUR 16.85m) to expand production at its units in Körmend, Zalaegerszeg and Nova (W Hungary). The government will support the investment, which will create 100 jobs, with a 1 billion forint grant. Read more details HERE.

LISZT FERENC PASSENGER NUMBERS RISE BY ALMOST 15 PC IN 2017

Passenger numbers at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport rose by 14.5 percent to 13.1 million last year, data from industry intelligence company CAPA Centre for Aviation showed. Air freight volume handled at the airport increased by 13.4 percent to 127,000 tonnes.

MAPEI HUNGARY UNIT SALES UP 28 PC

Sales of the Hungarian unit of Italian building materials maker Mapei rose by 28 percent to 12.5 billion forints in 2017, the company said. The unit could resume exports, which were halted last year because of booming domestic demand, when a capacity expansion is completed in July.

WIZZ AIR TO OPEN BASE IN VIENNA

Hungarian low-fare airline Wizz Air said it will open a 331 million dollar base at Vienna Airport in June. Wizz Air will deploy one Airbus A320 aircraft at the base when it opens and two more Airbus A321 aircraft in November. The airline will operate 17 new routes from Vienna in 2018, offering 450,000 seats on 69 weekly flights by year-end. Read more HERE.

WORLD BANK RAISES HUNGARY GDP FORECASTS

The World Bank raised its projections for Hungary’s GDP growth to 3.8 percent for 2018 and 3.1 percent for 2019 in a biannual forecast. Both forecasts were bumped up one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous Global Economic Prospects publication released in June.

MTI Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák

Source: MTI/Daily News Hungary