Consumer confidence rose to a two-year high in January-March as households greeted what they see as an end to the government’s belt-tightening measures, Hungarian economic researcher Ecostat said Friday, citing its latest survey.
The index of household sentiment rose 9.4 percentage points from October-December.
Some 55% of Hungarian households said their financial situation was fair to middling and only 15% reported improvement. Families are generally more downbeat, with 38% expecting harder times ahead, and only a fifth of the population expecting their finances to look up in the coming months.
Ecostat said confidence rose mainly because of a let-up in measures tightening tax regulations, and tax rebate changes benefiting medium-income households.
Despite this, Hungarians are generally more upbeat about their financial positions and the future of the Hungarian economy. Inflationary expectations are also improved, although two-thirds of households continue to expect rising prices in the future.
The majority of households still struggle to save up for rainy days. Over half of those polled said they barely eek out a living on their wages, 16% live off their savings and 8% are taking out loans to make ends meet. Only 22% said they can set aside some of their income.
Although demand for home loans fell in the second half of 2007, household borrowing rose 13% during the same period as Hungarians took out 35% more consumer loans.