Latest economic data: surplus and trade deficit in Hungary – UPDATE

The finance ministry and KSH published the latest economic data about the surplus and trade deficit in Hungary.

Budget runs HUF 181 bn surplus for September

Hungary’s cash flow-based budget deficit, excluding local councils, had a 2,691.7 billion forints (EUR 6.3bn) deficit at the end of September, after running a 181.0 billion forint surplus for the month, the finance ministry said in a first reading of data on Monday.

The full-year cash flow-based budget deficit target is 3,152.7 billion forints.

The central budget deficit reached 2,773.0 billion forints at the end of September. The social security funds were 171.3 billion in the red, while the separate state funds had a surplus of 252.6 billion.

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Hungary trade deficit reaches EUR 1.3 bn in August

Hungary had a 1.3 billion euros trade deficit in August, a first reading of data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Monday shows.

The gap, a hair over the deficit in July, was the largest one in a string of consecutive deficits running for more than a year, an anomaly for Hungary, an export-driven economy where trade surpluses are the norm.

Exports rose by an annual 37.1 percent to 11.466 billion euros, while imports increased by 40.6 percent to 12.765 billion euros.

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 75 percent of Hungary’s exports and 69 percent of its imports during the month.

For the period January-August, Hungary’s exports increased by an annual 18.6 percent to 91.941 billion euros, while imports rose by 29.0 percent to 96.716 billion. The trade deficit reached 4.775 billion euros for the period.

Andras Horvath, chief analyst at Magyar Bankholding, blamed the swelling trade deficit on higher energy and commodities prices, noting that energy prices alone accounted for more than three-fourths of the deterioration in the trade balance in January-July. He said the gap would grow at a slower pace in the coming months as consumption and investments moderate, and he put the full-year deficit at 7 billion-7.5 billion euros.