Hungary’s final March trade surplus EUR 929 m, unchanged

Budapest, June 1 (MTI) – Hungary posted a foreign trade surplus of 929 million euros in March based on a second reading of the data, unchanged from the preliminary figure, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Monday.

Exports rose by 13 percent to 8.257 billion euros from the same period a year earlier. Imports were up 9.8 percent at 7.327 billion euros.

For January-March, the trade surplus reached 2.487 billion euros. Exports rose by 7.7 percent to 22.288 billion euros and imports were up 5.7 percent at 19.801 billion euros.

Hungary’s exports to other European Union member states reached 17.646 billion euros in January-March. Exports to non-EU countries came to 4.642 billion euros.

Bela Glattfelder, state secretary at the economy ministry, welcomed the data as “extremely favourable”. He said if positive trends continued, Hungary may post a foreign trade surplus of 9 billion euros by year-end, surpassing all records.

He said the Hungarian economy had strengthened considerably in the recent period, especially industrial output. Vehicle manufacturing has improved, with several new model cars out on the market.

Low energy prices on international markets have helped Hungarian exports, he said. Hungary has increased its exports to US dollar-based economies due to the dollar’s strengthening to the euro. While Hungary’s exports are still 80 percent to EU countries, exports to non-EU states are rising rapidly, Glattfelder added.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters