The week in Hungary’s business and finance

Following are the past week’s business and finance news highlights compiled by the Hungarian News Agency

MEDICOR BUILDING HUF 800 M PLANT IN TURKEY

Hungary’s Medicor, which makes neonatal incubators, is building a 800 million forint plant in Ankara. Peter Szijjarto, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, also announced an agreement between Magyar Eximbank and its Turkish counterpart on financing a 100 million US dollar order to supply radiology equipment to seven oncology centres in Ghana.

EC PROJECTS 4 PC GDP GROWTH IN HUNGARY IN 2021

The European Commission projected Hungarian GDP growth of 4 percent this year. “The current containment measures … will remain a drag on GDP growth in the near-term,” the report said, adding that the manufacturing sector “faces supply chain disruptions, which could hinder production in the short-term.”

FEED-IN TARIFF TENDER WINNERS TO ADD 210MW OF SOLAR PARKS

The 36 winners of a feed-in tariff tender, Hungary’s second, will build solar parks with a capacity of 210MW, enough to power 160,000 homes, The Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Office (MEKH) said.

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The average feed-in tariff was 22.35 forints per kWh for solar parks with capacity under 1 MW and 17.22 forints per kWh for solar parks with bigger capacity.

NOLATO TO INVEST HUF 7.7BN IN CAPACITY EXPANSION

Swedish-owned Nolato Kft announced plans to invest 7.7 billion forints to expand capacity at its hygiene and healthcare products plant in Mosonmagyarovar, in north-western Hungary. Nolato Kft will add 8,000sqm to its production and warehouse space at the base, boosting output of existing products as well as expanding the product palette. The government is supporting the investment, which will preserve 574 jobs and create 30 more, with a 1.5 billion forint grant.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT VALUE, VOLUME FALL IN 2020

The value and number of public procurements in Hungary fell last year, impacted by the pandemic, an annual report by the Public Procurement Authority showed. The number of public procurement procedures fell by 25 percent to 7,431, while the value of the procurements declined by 5 percent to 3,264 billion forints.

NBH POLICYMAKERS POINT TO FACTORS CREATING ‘SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY’ FOR MACRO OUTLOOK

National Bank of Hungary (NBH) policymakers acknowledged the continued recovery in the industrial and construction sectors as well as the positive impact of government stimulus, but said a potential increase in risk aversion, the inflationary effects of higher indirect taxes and the pace of vaccination create “significant uncertainty” for Hungary’s macroeconomic outlook.

LEASE CONTRACT VOLUME FALLS 14PC

Lease contract volume declined by 14 percent to 639 billion forints last year, the Hungarian Leasing Association said. This year, the association forecasts contract volume of around 700 billion.

Source: MTI