Domestic consumption growth has been steady and continuous thanks to the confidence of people in Hungarian economic performance. The objective of the Government has been to leave as much money at families as possible and as a result along with retail sales growth the consumer confidence index also reached an eight-year high, Minister of State for Economic Regulation Kristóf Szatmáry said.

He pointed out that domestic consumption has been on the rise for the ninth consecutive month following an increase of more than 8 percent in March. The fact that households have been spending more does not only signal that their financial position has improved, it also underpins the growth of the SMEs which produce for the domestic market and that of the Hungarian economy.

Kristóf Szatmáry stressed that the rebound of household consumption has resulted mainly from the cutting of utility fees, the introduction of family tax allowance, the wage hike of healthcare employees and teachers, record high employment growth and the increase of wages in real terms.

In the opinion of the Minister of State, the fact that -- in addition to the growth recorded in March -- retail sales growth exceeded 6 percent in January and February 2014 and household consumption improved from quarter to quarter last year is indicating that consumption will continue to strengthen.

Consequently, economic growth can be expected to remain balanced in 2014 and 2015, as along with exports domestic consumption will also boost GDP.

(Ministry for National Economy)