Hungary GDP growth accelerates to 5.0 pc in Q3

Hungary’s GDP rose by an annual 5.0 percent in the third quarter, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Thursday.

Growth accelerated from 4.9 percent in Q2.

KSH said the industrial and construction sectors as well as market-based services contributed the most to growth in Q3.

Adjusted for seasonal and calendar year effects, Q3 GDP growth was 4.8 percent.

Hungary’s GDP rose an unadjusted 5.1 percent and an adjusted 5.0 percent in Q1-Q3 from the same period a year earlier.

Speaking at a press conference after the release of the data, Finance Minister Mihály Varga noted that Hungary’s Q3 GDP growth was well over the 1.4 percent average for European Union member states.

He said growth was supported by government measures to boost employment, improve competitiveness, support home construction and better utilise EU funding, as well as by investment incentives.

Varga said the government is following closely economic and geopolitical developments in Europe and the rest of the world and has already initiated measures to shield the Hungarian economy from their impact. More steps to protect the economy are expected to be taken next spring, he added.

ING Bank chief analyst Péter Virovácz said that, in spite of an expected slowdown in the fourth quarter, Hungary’s full-year GDP growth could remain very close to 5 percent.

Takarékbank senior analyst Gergely Suppán put full-year GDP growth at 4.9 percent. Next year, growth could slow to 3.7 percent, he said, but noted that domestic demand presents upside risk for that projection.