The Hungarian Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) has managed to significantly improve the composition of Hungary’s central government debt as it had bought back USD-denominated securities and concurrently issued new EUR-denominated ones in the same value. Through the bond swap, the ÁKK has reduced the rate of payable interest, substantially extended maturity and rebalanced liabilities in favour of the euro, the currency more closely linked to the forint. The transaction has left the share of foreign currency debt within the total amount of debt unchanged.
Thanks to favourable economic trends and supportive Government measures, the number of people in employment has hit a new record high, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at a press conference last week. The latest labour market data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) confirm this: in the third quarter of 2017, the unemployment rate edged further down and the number of people with a job continued to rise in comparison to the same period of the previous year.
In the period January-August 2017, the volume of construction sector output surged by 27.9 percent year-on-year, according to the flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) in which the latest statistics for the month of August 2017 were published. The latest relevant Eurostat publication also shows that in the observed month Hungary’s construction sector posted the largest year-on-year growth rate within the European Union, even if the large increase was also due to a very low base.
According to the latest report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the industrial sector continued to expand in the month of August 2017. In August 2017, the volume of industrial sector output was up by 6.8 percent year-on-year and 5.5 percent month-on-month. In the period January-August 2017, the volume of industrial sector output and export sales of the sector’s products grew by 5.1 percent and 5.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.
The Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) auctioned 12-month Discount Treasury Bills with an average yield of 0.00 percent on 5 October 2017, while two weeks before new government securities had been sold with negative yields. During the course of this year, auctions have resulted more than once in negative yields in the case of securities with short maturities. This shows that the financing conditions of Hungarian government debt have improved steadily and remarkably in recent years.
According to the global competitiveness survey published in September 2017 by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Hungary has advanced nine places compared to last year’s ranking. The improvement aptly shows that makers of international surveys have joined credit rating agencies among institutions that acknowledge the performance of the Hungarian economy.
According to the latest relevant report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the Internet services market has continued to expand in the second quarter of 2017. The number of Internet subscriptions grew to 9.1 million by the end of the quarter, which shows an increase of 2.4 percent quarter-on-quarter and 8 percent year-on-year. 69 percent of subscriptions were for mobile Internet services.
According to the latest data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), the upward tourism trend that had prevailed in recent years has continued in 2017. The number of tourism nights by international guests has risen steeply, while those by domestic guests were also markedly higher compared to the figures registered one year before. The number of arrivals by foreign guests was another indicator that showed robust growth. The performance of Hungary’s tourism sector is remarkable even when compared to that of other countries within the Visegrad Four.
In addition to a stable central government budget and low current account deficit achieved in Hungary, the financing conditions of external debt have also been improving steadily. On 5 September 2017, the Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) issued 3-month Discount Treasury Bills with negative yields – for the first time in its history.
In the second quarter of 2017, the volume of investment within the national economy grew by 27 percent year-on-year. Coupled with robust growth registered in the previous quarter, in the first half of 2017 investment volume was up by some 25 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.