World Bank Projects Faster-Growing Hungarian Economy

  • 10 Jan 2019 8:31 AM
  • Hungary Matters
World Bank Projects Faster-Growing Hungarian Economy
Responding to the World Bank’s latest report forecasting the rate of Hungarian economic growth in 2018 at 4.6%, 0.5 of a percentage point higher than its June projection, the finance ministry said all major international organisations had upgraded their growth estimates for Hungary.

 In a statement on Wednesday, the finance ministry referred to the bank’s “World Economic Outlook 2019″ which suggested the outlook for the global economy “has darkened”.

The ministry said that in contrast to a global slowdown, Hungary was likely to see a continued run of higher growth thanks to a combination of moderate inflation and low interest rates coupled with expanding consumption, growing market services and the upward investment rate trajectory.

All this will ensure that the growth rate will remain above 4 percent in the coming years, the ministry said, adding that upward revisions of the “conservative” World Bank forecast were likely in the coming years.

The ministry also noted the declining public debt to GDP ratio since 2011, with an almost ten percentage point debt reduction over the past seven years.

Last autumn, almost all major international organisations revised their outlooks for the Hungarian economy, the ministry said, noting that the European Commission had added 0.3 of a percentage point to its 2018 forecast, while the OECD and International Monetary Fund had added 0.2 of a point. The EBRD raised its projection by 0.5 of a percentage point.

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