Hungary’s current account surplus continues to be above the EU average and the debt to GDP ratio is nearly 10 percentage points higher in the EU than in Hungary, the ministry added. The further increase in employment projected by the EC and drop in unemployment to below 9% reflect an acknowledgment of the government’s efforts to stimulate activity in the labour market, the ministry said.

Hungary’s economy will grow by 2.3% of GDP in 2014 and by 2.1% in 2015, the European Commission said in its spring economic forecast released on Monday. The projection was raised from 2.1% in the EC’s winter forecast published in February.

The new projection corresponds with figures in the government’s updated Convergence Programme submitted to Brussels at the end of April. Hungary’s budget deficit will come in at 2.9% of GDP this year and around 2.8% in 2015, below the 3% European Union threshold.

The public debt will fall to 79.5% in 2015 from this year’s 80.3%, according to the commission’s figures. The EC included among risks to the forecast a weaker forint, a potential deepening of the Ukrainian crisis and a new relief scheme for households with foreign-currency-denominated mortgages.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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