HungaryTrends – The most interesting business and finance news from Hungary

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

WARSAW-BUDAPEST ROUTE: LOT’S FIFTH DAILY FLIGHT

As of the end of March next year, LOT will be operating its Warsaw-Budapest route with a frequency of five flights per day. The Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 arrives in Budapest in the evening for an overnight stop and returns to the Polish capital the following morning. Read more HERE.

WHERE DO HUNGARIANS SPEND NEW YEAR’S EVE?

The list is based on the search data about the period between 29 December 2017 and 2 January 2018. On the contrary to the other V4 countries and Serbia, Hungarians prefer staying within the borders for the last days of the year. It is proven by the fact that 13 of 20 searches are related to destinations within the country. Read more HERE.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BUY A FLAT IN HUNGARY

We can see new houses being built every day in Hungary, but how many houses are built, and where?

In their analysis, they checked the parts of the capital where customers can choose from the widest range of flats. These differ in ground space, the arrangement of rooms and price as well. Read more deatils HERE.

HUNGARY STATE DEBT DECLINES TO 72.4 PC AT END-Q3

Hungary’s state debt, calculated according to Maastricht rules, stood at 72.4 percent of GDP at the end of the third quarter, down from 73.6 percent at the end of Q2, the National Bank of Hungary said in an updated report on financial accounts data.

MINISTRY CUTS MID-TERM FORECAST FOR HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION GROWTH

The economy ministry lowered its projection for next year’s household consumption growth in a fresh mid-term economic and fiscal forecast. The projection was lowered to 4.9 percent from the official 5.4 percent forecast in the country’s updated Convergence Programme released in April.

POLAND’S MCI.EUROVENTURES ACQUIRES NETRISK.HU

Enterprise Investors said a private equity fund it manages has sold 100 percent of shares in Netrisk.hu,

Hungary’s top online insurance broker, to MCI.EuroVentures of MCI Capital Group, a private equity firm listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, for 56.5 million euros. The Polish Enterprise Fund (VI) acquired Netrisk.hu for 23 million euros in 2010.

GOVT MUST WEIGH FISCAL, ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HOME CONSTRUCTION VAT RATE EXTENSION

Hungary’s government has to consider the fiscal and economic impact of extending the preferential VAT rate on home construction, the state secretary for government communications said in an interview published in  business daily Világgazdaság. “The industry’s proposal is with the economy ministry, and the fiscal and economic effects of an extension must be reviewed. I won’t exclude the possibility of a favourable decision being taken,” Bence Tuzson told the paper. Lawmakers lowered the VAT rate on home construction to 5 percent from 27 percent from 2016, but the rate is set to revert to the former level, which is Hungary’s main VAT rate, from the beginning of 2020.

Photo: MTI

Source: Daily News Hungary/MTI