According to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office published last week, the total number of those in employment continued to increase in comparison to the corresponding period of 2012. In the period April-June 2013, the number of those in employment aged 15-74 years was up by 55 thousand, to 3 million 931 thousand, compared to the same period of the previous year which corresponds to an increase of 1.4 percent over the past year.
Hungary’s external debt level is characterized by a positive trend which has been in place for almost two years: since the third quarter of 2011, the external debt of the Hungarian economy has decreased by some 18.7 percent of GDP. The improvement of the external debt indicator – a key benchmark for Hungary’s risk assessment – is a favourable change from the aspect of the stability of the country in general and the financial status in particular.
According to the latest statistics of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the positive trend of improving real wages – in place since the beginning of the year – is continuing.
Tourism is one of the fastest recovering sectors following the crisis; the main tourism-related indices reached their pre-crisis level again by 2011, and grew further significantly exceeding figures in 2012. In 2013 the favorable trend is continuing.
In March-May 2013, the number of people in employment, aged 15-74 years, increased to 3 million 910 thousand, which was 62 thousand more than the level recorded in March-May 2012. In the age group of 15-64 years, the number of those in employment was 3 million 878 thousand, which constitutes an increase of 66 thousand compared to the corresponding period of 2012. In this category, the employment rate edged up to 57.9 percent which is 1.2 percentage points higher in comparison to the figure of one year ago.
Real economic transactions within current accounts in Hungary have posted significant surpluses in recent years. One key element of that has been the positive foreign trade turnover trend which began after 2009: Hungarian foreign trade has registered permanent and steady surpluses since the onset of the global economic crisis as the value of Hungarian exports has repeatedly exceeded imports.
Even from a European perspective, the Government has achieved outstanding results in the field of employment in general and the job prospects of women in particular. This year, the positive effects of the Job Protection Plan promote further improvement with regard to women’s employment. According to the latest data of the programme, which has been in place since January, in April job subsidies were applied for 27 thousand employees returning to work after their childcare allowance and maternity benefit period had ended. In addition, the Cabinet is planning to arrange new policies in order to improve the day-care facility network for small children and enhance the prospects of women seeking or returning to a job.
Preliminary macroeconomic data (industrial, retail and foreign trade) for April by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) provide an impressive image of the Hungarian economy. Following better-than-expected first quarter GDP statistics, data on the first month of the second quarter also indicate that Hungary’s economic growth may pick up this year.
The Government, which took office in 2010, has put the Hungarian state budget on a sustainable path, and this achievement has also been acknowledged by Brussels: on 29 May, the European Commission announced that it proposes to the European Union’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), composed of EU ministers, to abrogate the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) against Hungary, which was commenced in 2004.
Over the past couple of months, several favourable processes emerged within the Hungarian economy: according to GDP data published two weeks ago, Hungary’s quarter-on-quarter output increased by 0.7 percent, the third best figure in the EU. Positive changes are also anticipated for the future, as major economic indicators show that the expectations of domestic economic stakeholders have been turning optimistic: the latest reading of the economic sentiment indicator of the Hungarian Development Bank – due mainly to an improvement regarding companies’ future investment plans – jumped to a two-year high, the Purchasing Managers Index of the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (HALPIM) signals expansion of the manufacturing sector and the GKI-Erste indicator points to rebounding business and consumer sentiment.