Hungary had a EUR 290.4m trade surplus in January 2010 as against a EUR 200m deficit a year earlier, the Central Statistics Office said in a first reading on Thursday. Following exports, now imports also started to rise yr/yr.

The January surplus came after a December surplus of EUR 375m. Hungary had a trade surplus each month since January 2009, and posted a full-year surplus of EUR 3.979bn in 2009.

Exports rose 14.6pc in twelve months to EUR 4.783bn in January 2010 and imports rose 2.7pc to EUR 4.493bn in the period, both from a low base.

Euro-term imports rose for the first time in January after steady yr/yr declines each month starting November 2008. Exports rose now for the second month in a row after a 8.8pc increase in December and uninterrupted declines between October 2008 and November 2009.

2009 exports fell 18.9pc in euro terms and imports were down 24.7pc from 2008.

KSH will publish a second reading of January external trade figures, including details on April 2.