The latest figures of the Hungarian economy tell a different story than PM Orbán
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PM Viktor Orbán recently stated in an interview that the anticipated rapid take-off of the Hungarian economy, originally expected on 1 January, had been postponed to 1 July. He admitted to an error regarding the dates, but insisted the economic upswing itself remained unchanged. However, the latest figures tell a different story: both construction and industrial output declined in August, proving his assertion incorrect once more.
Construction sector output falls
Output of Hungary’s construction sector dropped 15.2pc year-on-year in August, data released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on Tuesday show. Construction sector output declined 13.6pc when adjusted for the number of workdays. Output of the buildings segment slipped 2.3pc and civil engineering output plunged 34.8pc.
In absolute terms, construction sector output reached HUF 562.8bn in August. The buildings segment accounted for 70pc of the total. In a month-on-month comparison, construction sector output dropped 11.4pc, adjusted for seasonal and workday effects. Order stock was up 17.7pc at the end of August compared to twelve months earlier. Buildings segment orders fell 10.4pc but civil engineering orders jumped 35.7pc.
New order volume surged 123.1pc during the period on the back of transport infrastructure contracts. New orders in the buildings segment dropped 8.0pc but new civil engineering orders climbed 245.2pc. In January-August, output of the construction sector inched down 1.3pc from a year earlier.
Hopefully fewer Hungarians were fooled this year by Orban’s predictions of “A Golden Age”. The Hungarian economy is a disaster. The one sector which was up is civil engineering and that is all government projects financed by state debt which will be a millstone around the necks of taxpayers for such things as the useless Budapest-Belgrade line that does not stop in any major Hungarian city along its’ route. Depressing is the 3.3% decline in the food, beverages and tobacco sector which tells you that people are going hungry.