Hungary’s economy will resume growth in the second half of 2010 while annual gross domestic product is likely to flatline in the full year, analysts told MTI on Monday.
Penzugykutato is an outlier with a forecast of 0.5 percent GDP growth in 2010.
“Hungary’s economy came out of 2009 worse than the rest of the EU because of its strong export orientation, therefore when the EU’s imports start growing, that will heal Hungary’s economy as well,” said Penzugykutato’s chief economist Maria Zita Petschnig said.
The government and the central bank expect GDP to shrink 0.6 percent in 2010 with EU and IMF expectations, while the Budget Council expects a contraction of 0.5 percent.
Hungary’s GDP fell by 6.5 percent in 2009, according to three economic think-tanks, while one, Ecostat, forecast a 2009 decline of 6.3 percent. Official forecasts for last year range between a contraction of 6.7 percent (the government) and 6.2 percent (the budget council).