HungaryTrends – The week in business and finance
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See below main business and financial news from the previous week:
LABOUR SHORTAGE CRITICAL IN HUNGARY
Hungarian economy is struggling hard with labour shortage. The reason is simple: people go West for higher wages and better working conditions. The most affected sectors are public transport and service, tourism and IT. A solution could be wage union initiated by opposition party Jobbik, but government does not support it.
NUMBER OF RESTAURANTS DWINDLING, REMAINING DOING WELL
Many entrepreneurs are attracted to the idea of opening a restaurant in Budapest, but many soon end up closing their doors, according to company data service Opten. Whereas the number of establishments has continually fallen in the past three years, remaining businesses are doing well, however.
A NEW, MODERN QUARTER TO BE ADDED TO BUDAPEST’S CITYSCAPE
The Gránit Pólus Group plans on executing a development in the most valuable and frequented area of Budapest. It will be the biggest private estate development in the upcoming years. Offices, commercial units, apartments and hotels will be built in the new city quarter.
NBH TO USE UNCONVENTIONAL TOOLS TO FLATTEN YIELD CURVE
The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) said it will introduce unconditional interest rate swap facilities and a mortgage bond purchase programme in January. The central bank aims to flatten the yield curve with the unconventional monetary policy tools.
GOVERNMENT STANDS BY GDP FORECAST
Hungary’s government is standing by its target for GDP growth of over 4 percent this year, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said at his annual hearing in Parliament’s budget committee. Varga said he expected the Central Statistical Office (KSH) to revise upward growth figures from previous quarters. He noted that KSH had revised the GDP growth figure for 2014 from 3.5 percent to 4.2 percent. The government’s official target for GDP growth this year is 4.1 percent, but Q1-Q3 growth came in at just 3.7 percent.
HUNGARY WAGES CLIMB 13.6 PC IN SEPTEMBER
The average gross wage in Hungary rose by 13.6 percent annually to 292,944 forints (EUR 939) in September, KSH said.
Wages have been boosted by the higher minimum wage as well as pay increases for social services and healthcare workers.
HUNGARY JOINS CHINA-CEE FUND WITH EUR 50 M CONTRIBUTION
Hungary’s government has decided to join the China-Central and Eastern Europe Investment Cooperation Fund, a private equity fund organised by the Export-Import Bank of China, with a 50 million euro contribution.