Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said a press conference in Budapest that Hungary’s foreign trade surplus is estimated to total EUR 7bn and exports to gain 2-2.4 percent this year.
The current euro-forint exchange rate benefits exporters, while it has a neutral effect on the state budget, he said, reiterating that the Government has set no exchange rate target.
As the Minister stressed, last year the volume of exports reached a record high amount of EUR 81.7bn.
The Minister pointed out that according to data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) on 5 March the volume of Hungarian exports in euro terms was 2.2 percent higher in 2013 than that of the previous year, while imports totalled EUR 74.7bn, up by 1.9 percent compared to 2012.
Mihály Varga emphasised that foreign trade posted a surplus of EUR 7.0bn, up by EUR 354 million year-on-year. He said that the European Union continues to be Hungary’s largest trade partner, as in 2013 – valued in euros -- 77.1 percent of Hungarian exports headed to and 71.6 percent of Hungarian imports originated from EU member states. Vis-á-vis EU member states, he continued, Hungarian foreign trade registered a surplus of EUR 9.5bn.
Within the EU, our number one trade partner is still Germany, with more than one-fourth of total exports heading there, the Minister stated.
He also pointed out that the first results of the Government’s “Opening to the East and keeping with the West” policy are already observable. According to euro-denominated figures, Hungarian exports to and imports from non-EU countries constituted 22.9 percent and 28.4 percent, respectively, of the total volume in 2013. With these countries, exports valued in euros increased by 4.1 percent – a growth figure higher than for the EU – while imports were down by 0.7 percent compared to the previous year.
Mihály Varga said that exports to Russia, Hungary’s largest non-EU trade partner, totalled EUR 2.55bn, on a par with the level of the previous year. In case of the USA, our second largest non-EU trade partner, exports gained remarkably, by 29.8 percent, totalling EUR 2.47bn. Exports to Turkey soared by 17.3 percent (EUR 1.42bn in total).
The Minister emphasised that in accordance with the “Opening to the East” policy, the increase of exports to China was also promising, up by 6.9 percent and thus totalling EUR 1.5bn. Hungarian exports to South Korea were 25.1 percent higher, reaching a total of EUR 225.2 million.
Thanks also to this strategy Hungarian exports to the Latin American countries were also stronger: those to Brazil gained 18.9 percent (EUR 303 million as a whole).
Speaking about the product composition of Hungarian exports, the Minister said that the export of machinery and equipment constituted more than half of total export volume (EUR 43.5bn), which was significantly higher than last year, and within this sector the main growth engine was the vehicle manufacturing division.
As Mihály Varga informed journalists, the most dynamic growth was registered within the trade turnover of the manufactured products category, as related exports and imports were up by 6.9 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
With regard to Government objectives of the future Mihály Varga singled out that facilitating export growth and market diversification are two key priorities of the country’s foreign trade strategy for 2014-2020.
As another Government objective the Minister mentioned the aim of increasing the share of exports to non-EU countries and regions from the current one-fifth of total to one-third by 2018.
Mihály Varga stressed that in addition to export market diversification, another Government priority is to boost the proportion of exports by Hungarian SMEs through assisting them in entering international markets.
He underlined that Eximbank’s export credit refinancing program updated last year offers loans with preferential interest rates for Hungarian exporters and suppliers in 2013-2014, thus increasing the number of Hungarian exporters.
Deputy State Secretary Antal Nikoletti said that the Government hopes a peaceful solution will be found for ending the Russian-Ukrainian standoff, as both countries are promising markets for Hungarian foreign trade.
(Ministry for National Economy)
