In October 2015, the volume of industrial output grew by 10.1 percent year-on-year, and thus the sector’s has been expanding for the 26th consecutive month. In the period January-October 2015, output was up by 7.1 percent year-on-year. The sector’s growth has been steady: output was higher in eleven of the sector’s altogether thirteen divisions and industrial output rose in every region.
Fiscal processes were favourable this year, and the budget deficit may even be 2.4 percent of GDP, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at a hearing by the parliament’s economic committee.
In line with the informal guidelines of the European Commission and in accordance with the MoU concluded with the EBRD the Government has submitted to parliament an amendment on bank tax.
Commenting on preliminary foreign trade data from October 2015, Deputy State Secretary for Enterprise Relations Zoltán István Marczinkó said that Hungary’s foreign trade sector may post a record-high surplus of EUR 7.5-8bn this year.
Nothings demonstrates the strong growth momentum of the Hungarian tourism sector better than the following fact: in the first three quarters of the year the number of tourism nights in Hungary already reached the full-year figure of 2011, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at the presentation ceremony of Pro Tourismo awards. As the Minister added, this growth figure is outstanding even from an international aspect.
2016 will be the year of simpler and lower taxes in Hungary which will leave more money at families. From the aspect of law-abiding enterprises, 2016 will also be a year of recognition, as companies that qualify as “reliable taxpayers” will enjoy a number of advantages.
In October 2015 and in the initial ten months of the year, industrial output rose by 10.1 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively, year-on-year.
Mihály Varga called the phasing out of forex loans one of the most significant economic policy measures and achievements of 2015. In the speech held at the end-of-year assembly of the Hungarian Banking Association, the Minister pointed out that the timely forint conversion of forex mortgages has averted the risk of additional financial burdens for households and the entire banking sector as well. The Government – together with the Hungarian Banking Association and the National Bank of Hungary -- has prevented households, local governments and the state budget from incurring extra debt of some HUF 1000bn, the Minister stressed.
According to the latest report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), consumer prices were up by 0.5 percent year-on-year in the month of November 2015. Estimates predict inflation of 0 percent for the entire year of 2015.
Hungary’s state budget received some EUR 304bn of EU funding in the month of November 2015, while tax revenues exceeded last year’s level by HUF 665bn.