The remarkably good performance of the Hungarian economy in the first quarter of 2017 confirms the Government’s prior expectations. Thanks partly to the Government-initiated six-year wage agreement and tax reductions, the economy has been placed on a fast-growth track, a fact also acknowledged by international institutions, Deputy State Secretary for Financial Policy László Balogh said.

The OECD has also upwardly revised its estimate of Hungary’s GDP growth for this year, in comparison to the prior prognosis published in autumn 2016. The OECD’s latest Economic Outlook predicts GDP growth of 3.8 percent for the year 2017 in Hungary, up by 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous estimate, he noted.

Commenting on the news, he said that the OECD believed domestic demand was to remain the main engine of economic growth, underpinned also by improving employment and real wage trends.

Thanks to the accelerated disbursement of EU funds as well as housing subsidies, investment growth is also expected to pick up.

The Government’s view on Hungary’s economic outlook is similar, but they anticipate even better macro-economic indicators than the OECD, László Balogh stressed.

Among the Visegrad Four, Hungary’s economic growth rate may be the highest in the year 2017, he concluded.

(Ministry for National Economy)