It is partly thanks to the measures recently implemented with a view to boosting investments, such as the single-digit corporation tax, the reduced burdens of employers and the effective utilisation of development funds, that in the first three-quarters of the year investments worth more than HUF 5,300 billion have been implemented in Hungary, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga announced evaluating the latest investment data.

The Finance Minister highlighted that the real estate sector, transport and warehousing, and energy industry investments were the main contributors to the 22 per cent expansion in investments in the third quarter, and this increase is expected to continue also during the remaining part of the year.

The Minister said there are a number of factors behind the 5.1 per cent higher latest growth rate compared with the second quarter of 2018. The housing promotion programme plays a major role in the 25 per cent expansion of construction projects, including an 18 per cent increase in real property projects. In addition to the local and EU funds used for the development of the economy, the lowest corporation tax rate in the European Union, too, conveys the message that it is worth investing and making long-term plans in Hungary, Mr Varga pointed out. In the third quarter of 2018, investment activity in the processing industry, which continues to remain the single most important sector, increased by 3.2 per cent, meaning that production and export capacities are further expanding. In consequence of the government’s infrastructure developments, there was a 35 per cent increase in the public sector, primarily as a result of the developments carried in the field of health care, the Minister stressed.

In 2017 the Hungarian investment rate was in excess of both the EU’s and the Visegrád countries’ average. In the first three quarters of this year, investments rose by 17 per cent, and as a result as much as HUF 5,321 billion has been spent on developments this year, Mr Varga said. He added that all signs appear to indicate that this dynamic growth will also continue during the rest of the year, and the launch of production facilities will further boost the performance of the Hungarian economy.

(Ministry of Finance)