Hungary’s economy contracted by an annual 4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, preliminary figures of the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Friday showed.
Gross domestic product shrank by 7.1 percent in the third quarter.
In the full year of 2009, Hungary’s economy contracted by 6.3 percent, according to preliminary data.
The government had forecast for a contraction of 6.7 percent.
Analysts told MTI that the data was better than expected. A low base and the start of stock replenishing were the main drivers.
ING Bank’s David Nemeth said GDP fell less than expected because companies probably started replenishing stocks in the fourth quarter just as in western Europe and China.
Hungary’s economy could start growing in a quarter-on-quarter comparison in the first half of 2010 and GDP could rise by 0.5 percent in the whole of 2010, he added.
Zsolt Kondrat of MKB Bank said Hungary’s economy could turn around, depending on the state of the economies of the country’s biggest export markets, though he cautioned that the preliminary data for the fourth quarter could be heavily revised later.