Consumer confidence in Hungary fell to a 13-year low in April, while businesses haven’t been as downbeat in three years, market researcher GKI said in its latest economic sentiment survey.
The overall index, which includes both consumers and businesses, fell to an all-time low as both sub-indexes dropped three points to -55.4 and -10.9 respectively.
GKI said the government crisis was mainly responsible for the low consumer confidence, while industrial businesses became more pessimistic over the weak European growth outlook.
Following a small improvement in February, the industrial confidence index retreated back to January levels. Expectations about future orders improved somewhat overall, but businesses were more downbeat on exports. Inventories were up in April and businesses were more willing to hire new staff.
In the building sector, confidence fell sharply after a steady but modest increase over the previous months, as businesses expected fewer orders and were less inclined to take on new employees.
Sentiment was also down in the trading and service sectors, while households grew gloomier about their personal finances, short-term savings and unemployment.